Primeval Evil Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across global platforms

An blood-curdling metaphysical fright fest from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an age-old dread when unrelated individuals become subjects in a dark ritual. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping saga of overcoming and mythic evil that will transform the fear genre this cool-weather season. Guided by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and eerie cinema piece follows five teens who wake up imprisoned in a wooded wooden structure under the sinister sway of Kyra, a troubled woman haunted by a prehistoric religious nightmare. Arm yourself to be captivated by a motion picture presentation that unites primitive horror with mythic lore, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a recurring foundation in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reimagined when the demons no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather from deep inside. This marks the haunting layer of the players. The result is a riveting cognitive warzone where the story becomes a unyielding confrontation between right and wrong.


In a abandoned outland, five teens find themselves trapped under the ominous grip and possession of a secretive entity. As the protagonists becomes defenseless to evade her influence, stranded and tracked by terrors inconceivable, they are compelled to battle their inner horrors while the final hour without pause draws closer toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and teams erode, demanding each soul to challenge their existence and the foundation of independent thought itself. The danger amplify with every second, delivering a horror experience that combines unearthly horror with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to channel basic terror, an presence born of forgotten ages, manifesting in soul-level flaws, and wrestling with a evil that peels away humanity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant evoking something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the evil takes hold, and that conversion is emotionally raw because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering customers anywhere can face this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first trailer, which has garnered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, making the film to viewers around the world.


Witness this gripping spiral into evil. Stream *Young & Cursed* this launch day to confront these dark realities about mankind.


For director insights, extra content, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across entertainment pages and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s decisive shift: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule melds legend-infused possession, Indie Shockers, alongside brand-name tremors

From pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by old testament echoes and extending to legacy revivals plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted in tandem with calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. top-tier distributors bookend the months with known properties, at the same time OTT services front-load the fall with new voices alongside scriptural shivers. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is drafting behind the tailwinds from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween stays the prime week, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, however this time, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are surgical, as a result 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Elevated fear reclaims ground

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, instead in a current-day frame. Led by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. targeting mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, the WB camp unveils the final movement of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise 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, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: old school creep, trauma foregrounded, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The follow up digs further into canon, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, reaching teens and game grownups. It drops in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

SVOD Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga featuring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a clever angle. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

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

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trend Lines

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror comes roaring back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The new chiller season: installments, Originals, in tandem with A loaded Calendar optimized for frights

Dek The incoming horror cycle lines up from day one with a January bottleneck, and then stretches through June and July, and carrying into the year-end corridor, weaving name recognition, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that convert genre releases into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

This space has emerged as the steady option in studio calendars, a segment that can expand when it resonates and still mitigate the losses when it falls short. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that responsibly budgeted scare machines can drive the national conversation, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The trend flowed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is an opening for different modes, from returning installments to director-led originals that carry overseas. The result for the 2026 slate is a slate that shows rare alignment across the market, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of familiar brands and untested plays, and a renewed priority on release windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and home streaming.

Studio leaders note the category now performs as a plug-and-play option on the programming map. Horror can bow on a wide range of weekends, create a quick sell for promo reels and TikTok spots, and over-index with viewers that line up on advance nights and return through the week two if the movie fires. Post a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration signals trust in that approach. The slate commences with a thick January band, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while keeping space for a late-year stretch that reaches into spooky season and afterwards. The schedule also shows the increasing integration of specialty arms and digital platforms that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and expand at the proper time.

A notable top-line trend is franchise tending across shared universes and storied titles. The studios are not just rolling another follow-up. They are moving to present connection with a marquee sheen, whether that is a brandmark that telegraphs a refreshed voice or a talent selection that links a upcoming film to a classic era. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and distinct locales. That blend provides 2026 a strong blend of brand comfort and discovery, which is how the films export.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline releases that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a succession moment and a heritage-centered relationship-driven entry. Cameras are rolling my review here in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a throwback-friendly framework without covering again the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Plan for a rollout anchored in legacy iconography, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue wide buzz through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format allowing quick shifts to whatever shapes horror talk that spring.

Universal has three defined projects. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an synthetic partner that unfolds into a deadly partner. The date positions it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit eerie street stunts and bite-size content that fuses romance and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are set up as creative events, with a opaque teaser and a second trailer wave that shape mood without giving away the concept. The Halloween runway lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gritty, practical-effects forward aesthetic can feel big on a moderate cost. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror blast that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio rolls out two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is positioning as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both franchise faithful and new audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around narrative world, and creature useful reference builds, elements that can fuel IMAX and PLF uptake and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on textural authenticity and period speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is glowing.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal titles move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a sequence that elevates both launch urgency and subscription bumps in the later phase. Prime Video balances licensed films with worldwide entries and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using well-timed internal promotions, fright rows, and handpicked rows to keep attention on the horror cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about own-slate titles and festival pickups, confirming horror entries near launch and staging as events arrivals with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a two-step of focused cinema runs and accelerated platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has indicated interest to take on select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 slate with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is uncomplicated: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, updated for modern sound and cinematography. 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 suggested a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the back half.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using boutique theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Known brands versus new stories

By proportion, the 2026 slate favors the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on fan equity. The challenge, as ever, is viewer burnout. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is promising a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a continental coloration from a ascendant talent. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is steady enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent comps make sense of the approach. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that kept streaming intact did not preclude a hybrid test from delivering when the brand was robust. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror surged in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel new when they change perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, allows marketing to relate entries through character spine and themes and to sustain campaign assets without extended gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind 2026 horror point to a continued preference for in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights aura and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and medieval diction, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely tease 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 calibrated for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta refresh that centers an original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to con floor moments and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that emphasize pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that land in premium houses.

Annual flow

January is stacked. 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 brooding contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month winds down 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 meaningful, but the menu of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth persists.

Winter into spring seed summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s artificial companion evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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 encounter a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss battle to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, driven by Cronin’s material craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting premise that plays with the panic of a child’s mercurial point of view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-supported and toplined haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes modern genre fads and true crime fervors. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing scheduled 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 erupts, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a another family lashed to lingering terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-first horror over action spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBA. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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

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

Why 2026 lands now

Three grounded forces shape this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and compressed schedules. 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 outpaced straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will share space across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make my review here hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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 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 surprise-hit pursuit 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first unexpected 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, soundcraft, and cinematography 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.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.