Ancient Darkness awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising feature, bowing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One bone-chilling spectral scare-fest from dramatist / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an primeval malevolence when unrelated individuals become subjects in a demonic ceremony. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping portrayal of struggle and mythic evil that will reshape horror this spooky time. Produced by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and tone-heavy story follows five strangers who arise caught in a off-grid hideaway under the oppressive dominion of Kyra, a young woman occupied by a time-worn biblical force. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a cinematic outing that weaves together bodily fright with spiritual backstory, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a historical trope in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is redefined when the demons no longer appear from external sources, but rather inside them. This illustrates the shadowy version of the group. The result is a enthralling emotional conflict where the tension becomes a intense clash between light and darkness.


In a forsaken landscape, five young people find themselves caught under the malicious rule and spiritual invasion of a unknown female presence. As the cast becomes paralyzed to escape her curse, exiled and targeted by spirits impossible to understand, they are required to wrestle with their soulful dreads while the countdown brutally ticks toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension surges and relationships erode, coercing each figure to scrutinize their identity and the idea of liberty itself. The stakes amplify with every minute, delivering a horror experience that combines paranormal dread with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to draw upon instinctual horror, an threat that existed before mankind, emerging via inner turmoil, and confronting a evil that peels away humanity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra was centered on something past sanity. She is oblivious until the evil takes hold, and that conversion is eerie because it is so deep.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for audience access beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering horror lovers everywhere can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first preview, which has pulled in over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, delivering the story to thrill-seekers globally.


Don’t miss this visceral fall into madness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this launch day to survive these dark realities about our species.


For exclusive trailers, special features, and insider scoops straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit the official website.





Today’s horror pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 U.S. release slate Mixes ancient-possession motifs, Indie Shockers, stacked beside IP aftershocks

Spanning survival horror drawn from mythic scripture and onward to brand-name continuations as well as keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like the richest in tandem with carefully orchestrated year in recent memory.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Major studios hold down the year through proven series, at the same time SVOD players prime the fall with unboxed visions set against legend-coded dread. On another front, the art-house flank is catching the uplift from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, and now, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are surgical, thus 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium dread reemerges

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the base, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, but a sharp contemporary setting. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule unveils the final movement from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma as theme, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, thickens the animatronic pantheon, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a room scale body horror descent pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No legacy baggage. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated 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, under Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Key Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Forecast: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching chiller slate: continuations, new stories, and also A packed Calendar Built For screams

Dek: The new scare cycle lines up from day one with a January crush, before it spreads through peak season, and straight through the holidays, weaving brand equity, creative pitches, and shrewd calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that turn genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror marketplace has become the steady tool in distribution calendars, a space that can spike when it clicks and still safeguard the losses when it under-delivers. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that low-to-mid budget fright engines can own the zeitgeist, the following year held pace with director-led heat and quiet over-performers. The run extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and awards-minded projects made clear there is space for many shades, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that export nicely. The takeaway for 2026 is a roster that appears tightly organized across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a blend of brand names and first-time concepts, and a recommitted priority on box-office windows that feed downstream value on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Buyers contend the category now performs as a plug-and-play option on the programming map. Horror can bow on almost any weekend, create a easy sell for creative and UGC-friendly snippets, and punch above weight with crowds that turn out on Thursday nights and stick through the sophomore frame if the movie fires. Following a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 configuration shows trust in that playbook. The year gets underway with a stacked January stretch, then uses spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while keeping space for a September to October window that extends to All Hallows period and into post-Halloween. The grid also spotlights the increasing integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and roll out at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is brand management across shared universes and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are seeking to position connection with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that indicates a new tone or a cast configuration that bridges a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the parallel to that, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into in-camera technique, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That combination delivers 2026 a confident blend of comfort and freshness, which is why the genre exports well.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent plays that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a relay and a classic-mode character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a classic-referencing framework without covering again the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive driven by franchise iconography, character spotlights, and a two-beat trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. More about the author Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will emphasize. As a summer alternative, this one will build wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick reframes to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three clear lanes. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, melancholic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an machine companion that evolves into a dangerous lover. The date positions it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on viral uncanny stunts and short-form creative that threads love and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an earned moment closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are marketed as auteur events, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date offers Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, practical-effects forward mix can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Look for a hard-R summer horror blast that maximizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, sustaining a consistent supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is presenting as a ground-zero restart 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 focus to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can lift large-format demand and convention buzz.

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 follows Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in minute detail and language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is positive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a structure that enhances both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the downstream. Prime Video will mix acquired titles with global acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their edges in catalog discovery, using timely promos, October hubs, and featured rows to lengthen the tail on the horror cume. Netflix retains agility about Netflix films and festival buys, dating horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like releases with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a paired of precision releases and quick platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown appetite to board select projects with acclaimed directors or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for sustained usage when the genre conversation surges.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is no-nonsense: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has shown results for director-led genre with crossover potential. 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 credible outlook is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using limited theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 tips toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness franchise value. The watch-out, as ever, is brand erosion. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is centering character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is anchored enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent comps make sense of the plan. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that honored streaming windows did not block a day-date move from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror hit big in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga demonstrated 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 extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot consecutively, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to hold creative in the market without dead zones.

How the films are being made

The shop talk behind these films telegraph a continued preference for real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that elevates unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-true language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta refresh that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature execution and sets, which favor booth activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that highlight surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is loaded. Universal’s 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 heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the spread of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Pre-summer months tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges 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 spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

August into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited pre-release reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s digital partner becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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 run into a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: gothic-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 fight to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic tilts and mistrust rises. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s material craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that channels the fear through a preteen’s volatile POV. Rating: TBD. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that pokes at hot-button genre motifs and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family tethered to past horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first imp source cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and primal menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out 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 tonal lanes of horror will share space across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 modest-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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, 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 escalate across the year, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundcraft, and visual design 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 Is Well Positioned

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand power where it counts, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the shudders sell the seats.