Primeval Dread Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling feature, premiering Oct 2025 on top digital platforms

One spine-tingling paranormal scare-fest from scriptwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an primordial fear when unrelated individuals become proxies in a satanic contest. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a intense journey of endurance and prehistoric entity that will reshape fear-driven cinema this harvest season. Directed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and eerie screenplay follows five young adults who are stirred isolated in a wooded dwelling under the malevolent power of Kyra, a troubled woman inhabited by a prehistoric ancient fiend. Be warned to be shaken by a motion picture experience that weaves together primitive horror with biblical origins, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a long-standing trope in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is twisted when the fiends no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather inside them. This illustrates the shadowy layer of the players. The result is a gripping mental war where the story becomes a unforgiving tug-of-war between light and darkness.


In a remote wilderness, five friends find themselves marooned under the evil influence and control of a obscure spirit. As the characters becomes paralyzed to break her grasp, abandoned and stalked by presences ungraspable, they are forced to face their soulful dreads while the timeline relentlessly draws closer toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust surges and partnerships disintegrate, compelling each character to rethink their personhood and the philosophy of freedom of choice itself. The danger accelerate with every instant, delivering a cinematic nightmare that combines supernatural terror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to tap into ancestral fear, an evil rooted in antiquity, operating within emotional fractures, and wrestling with a spirit that strips down our being when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra involved tapping into something past sanity. She is innocent until the possession kicks in, and that flip is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for public screening beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring audiences in all regions can witness this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its original clip, which has garnered over massive response.


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.


Experience this mind-warping journey into fear. Confront *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to uncover these evil-rooted truths about inner darkness.


For exclusive trailers, production insights, and announcements from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit the movie’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 season U.S. Slate interlaces primeval-possession lore, independent shockers, stacked beside series shake-ups

Across fight-to-live nightmare stories steeped in primordial scripture to brand-name continuations together with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is lining up as horror’s most layered plus calculated campaign year in years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio powerhouses lay down anchors with established lines, in tandem OTT services saturate the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with legend-coded dread. On another front, the independent cohort is riding the carry from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are intentional, hence 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige fear returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s pipeline starts the year with a statement play: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. 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 turned minimalist horror show. Guided by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures drops the final chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: 70s style chill, trauma as theme, plus otherworld rules that chill. This pass pushes higher, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a two hander body horror spiral anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a calculated bet. No heavy handed lore. No IP hangover. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

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

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Series Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, 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 first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. 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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

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

Platform originals gain bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Laurels convert to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Season Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

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



The next Horror Year Ahead: installments, universe starters, together with A packed Calendar tailored for frights

Dek The emerging terror cycle builds right away with a January logjam, from there rolls through the mid-year, and straight through the late-year period, marrying marquee clout, fresh ideas, and shrewd counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that transform these offerings into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has emerged as the dependable swing in studio lineups, a vertical that can spike when it breaks through and still buffer the floor when it misses. After 2023 signaled to buyers that efficiently budgeted chillers can command the discourse, the following year carried the beat with festival-darling auteurs and quiet over-performers. The run extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and awards-minded projects signaled there is capacity for a spectrum, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The end result for 2026 is a schedule that shows rare alignment across distributors, with strategic blocks, a balance of known properties and untested plays, and a tightened focus on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and platforms.

Insiders argue the genre now serves as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can premiere on numerous frames, generate a easy sell for creative and reels, and overperform with moviegoers that respond on Thursday previews and stick through the next weekend if the movie satisfies. After a production delay era, the 2026 setup indicates conviction in that equation. The year commences with a thick January band, then exploits spring through early summer for counterweight, while leaving room for a October build that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The calendar also includes the increasing integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and grow at the right moment.

A parallel macro theme is brand curation across ongoing universes and storied titles. Big banners are not just rolling another entry. They are looking to package threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a art treatment that signals a tonal shift or a casting choice that threads a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the meanwhile, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating material texture, practical effects and concrete locations. That pairing offers 2026 a strong blend of known notes and surprise, which is what works overseas.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount defines the early cadence with two headline pushes that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a back-to-basics character-centered film. Production is active in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a throwback-friendly strategy without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign fueled by iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a tiered teaser plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens 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 on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man purchases an virtual partner that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and quick hits that hybridizes longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the initial promo. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as filmmaker events, with a mystery-first teaser and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The prime October weekend opens a lane to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has established that a raw, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror hit that embraces international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio launches two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, preserving a steady supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is marketing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build artifacts around universe detail, and creature work, elements that can fuel PLF interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century this website England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already locked the day for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is glowing.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s slate head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a tiered path that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video pairs licensed content with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about own-slate titles and festival grabs, scheduling horror entries on shorter runways and framing as events drops with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of targeted cinema placements and prompt platform moves that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has signaled readiness to buy select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly activity when the genre conversation swells.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 track with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clear: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, reimagined for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas corridor to scale. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-driven genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By count, 2026 skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage franchise value. The watch-out, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is leading with character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and auteur plays provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the packaging is anchored enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

The last three-year set illuminate the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that observed windows did not prevent a day-date try from hitting when the brand was sticky. In 2024, precision craft horror hit big in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel new when they change perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 lensed sequentially, permits marketing to relate entries through relationships and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The craft conversations behind these films suggest a continued shift toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and artisan spotlights before rolling out a teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster aesthetics and world-building, which are ideal for convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that center pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar cadence

January is packed. 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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tonal variety carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth endures.

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

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a minimalist tease strategy and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

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 sorrowing man’s artificial companion shifts into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 tough boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the pecking order tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to nightmare, anchored by Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting chiller that manipulates the unease of a child’s mercurial impressions. Rating: to be announced. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody return that satirizes present-day genre chatter and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: filming slated 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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family snared by old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBD. 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: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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

Why 2026 and why now

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that downshifted or re-sequenced in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine meme-ready beats from test screenings, select scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will cluster across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. 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. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, tight deployments, 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 visual texture, aural design, and picture 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 shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand power where it counts, inventive vision where it helps, 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.