Age-old Dread stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One eerie paranormal suspense film from storyteller / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an ancient force when guests become tools in a demonic game. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing portrayal of struggle and forgotten curse that will alter scare flicks this autumn. Guided by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and cinematic screenplay follows five young adults who find themselves stuck in a isolated shack under the malevolent manipulation of Kyra, a cursed figure overtaken by a time-worn sacred-era entity. Be warned to be drawn in by a immersive adventure that integrates raw fear with mystical narratives, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a recurring tradition in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is reversed when the beings no longer emerge outside their bodies, but rather from deep inside. This mirrors the darkest dimension of these individuals. The result is a relentless moral showdown where the story becomes a soul-crushing face-off between moral forces.


In a abandoned landscape, five adults find themselves confined under the possessive dominion and domination of a enigmatic entity. As the ensemble becomes helpless to combat her curse, left alone and hunted by creatures impossible to understand, they are pushed to encounter their raw vulnerabilities while the seconds coldly ticks toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion grows and partnerships disintegrate, forcing each member to contemplate their core and the idea of self-determination itself. The risk escalate with every instant, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that connects otherworldly panic with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to draw upon raw dread, an force beyond time, influencing human fragility, and exposing a evil that strips down our being when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the spirit seizes her, and that turn is emotionally raw because it is so private.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering customers globally can be part of this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over notable views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Tune in for this visceral trip into the unknown. Experience *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to experience these fearful discoveries about mankind.


For film updates, making-of footage, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across entertainment pages and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s major pivot: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate melds Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, plus legacy-brand quakes

Spanning life-or-death fear drawn from mythic scripture and onward to canon extensions set beside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured together with calculated campaign year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios are anchoring the year with familiar IP, while platform operators pack the fall with fresh voices as well as legend-coded dread. In parallel, the independent cohort is catching the afterglow of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween holding the peak, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, therefore 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

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

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 set the base, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal Pictures begins the calendar with a statement play: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a crisp modern milieu. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Booked into mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and 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. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s slate releases the last chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: retro dread, trauma explicitly handled, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The bar is raised this go, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, courting teens and the thirty something base. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror duet fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative with Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is a clever angle. No puffed out backstory. No brand fatigue. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. 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 entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Heritage Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts 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 arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Trends Worth Watching

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Season Ahead: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch 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 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The forthcoming 2026 scare Year Ahead: entries, new stories, And A loaded Calendar engineered for shocks

Dek The emerging horror calendar lines up from day one with a January bottleneck, before it flows through midyear, and deep into the December corridor, marrying marquee clout, fresh ideas, and strategic release strategy. Distributors with platforms are embracing mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and buzz-forward plans that turn the slate’s entries into all-audience topics.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has grown into the surest release in release plans, a lane that can lift when it clicks and still protect the drawdown when it does not. After the 2023 year signaled to decision-makers that mid-range genre plays can own the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with visionary-driven titles and under-the-radar smashes. The upswing rolled into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers signaled there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with planned clusters, a balance of marquee IP and original hooks, and a recommitted emphasis on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium on-demand and streaming.

Studio leaders note the genre now acts as a versatile piece on the distribution slate. The genre can debut on a wide range of weekends, furnish a tight logline for teasers and reels, and outperform with demo groups that come out on preview nights and continue through the week two if the entry works. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup reflects trust in that dynamic. The year commences with a loaded January lineup, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that pushes into the fright window and afterwards. The grid also features the greater integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and grow at the optimal moment.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across connected story worlds and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just rolling another installment. They are aiming to frame threaded continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a title treatment that broadcasts a refreshed voice or a casting pivot that binds a upcoming film to a heyday. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the top original plays are doubling down on physical effects work, practical effects and grounded locations. That interplay hands 2026 a lively combination of known notes and invention, which is the formula for international play.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount leads early with two marquee bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a fan-service aware treatment without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. Watch for a push centered on signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a rollout cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever owns trend lines that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man installs an machine companion that escalates into a murderous partner. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that hybridizes romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the initial promo. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are set up as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a second wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The pre-Halloween slot allows Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has long shown that a raw, practical-first strategy can feel big on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a red-band summer horror hit that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, sustaining a bankable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is billing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both loyalists and first-timers. The fall slot lets Sony to build materials around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can lift large-format demand and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by historical precision and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s horror titles move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a sequence that enhances both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the tail. Prime Video stitches together outside acquisitions with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in deep cuts, using prominent placements, spooky hubs, and programmed rows to keep attention on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps options open about internal projects and festival wins, locking in horror entries near their drops and framing as events launches with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a dual-phase of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be critical 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+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to board select projects with award winners or star-driven packages, then give them a qualifying Young & Cursed theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway 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 simple: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, updated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a standard theatrical run for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has helped for director-led genre with wider appeal. 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 plausible forecast is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, 2026 skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The question, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles supply the oxygen. 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, centers Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is recognizable enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years announce the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that respected streaming windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they rotate perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate indicate a continued lean toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout Check This Out that foregrounds unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and technical spotlights before rolling out a tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature and environment design, which are ideal for expo activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is busy. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid heftier brand moves. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the spread of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 set up the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited information drops that favor idea over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s artificial companion turns into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 lonely island as the power balance of power shifts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, built on Cronin’s material craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 closed-door haunting piece that mediates the fear via a youth’s wavering POV. Rating: pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

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 riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. 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 detonates, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further opens again, with a unlucky family bound to returning horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival-core horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: pending. Production: ongoing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and primordial menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the moment is 2026

Three practical forces define this lineup. First, production that decelerated or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and leaner 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will compete across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall 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 endorse the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient screen counts, 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 texture, audio design, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the gasps sell the seats.