Antediluvian Terror stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, premiering October 2025 across premium platforms

A haunting otherworldly horror tale from scriptwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an timeless dread when drifters become tools in a supernatural experiment. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a intense saga of staying alive and old world terror that will transform the fear genre this harvest season. Created by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and tone-heavy suspense flick follows five characters who suddenly rise confined in a wooded cabin under the malevolent sway of Kyra, a troubled woman haunted by a ancient ancient fiend. Ready yourself to be hooked by a filmic presentation that harmonizes visceral dread with spiritual backstory, premiering on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a time-honored trope in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is radically shifted when the beings no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather within themselves. This mirrors the most terrifying part of all involved. The result is a psychologically brutal identity crisis where the plotline becomes a unyielding battle between heaven and hell.


In a unforgiving backcountry, five youths find themselves contained under the malicious control and curse of a obscure female presence. As the group becomes unable to reject her grasp, detached and followed by beings ungraspable, they are obligated to encounter their soulful dreads while the final hour brutally pushes forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion escalates and ties implode, driving each member to scrutinize their core and the integrity of autonomy itself. The risk amplify with every minute, delivering a cinematic nightmare that marries occult fear with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to explore core terror, an entity before modern man, channeling itself through our fears, and highlighting a darkness that peels away humanity when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra needed manifesting something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the control shifts, and that pivot is shocking because it is so internal.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—providing audiences worldwide can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has garnered over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, bringing the film to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this gripping voyage through terror. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to dive into these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and news straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule melds Mythic Possession, independent shockers, together with IP aftershocks

Kicking off with endurance-driven terror inspired by biblical myth to returning series and incisive indie visions, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted combined with precision-timed year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. top-tier distributors plant stakes across the year with known properties, at the same time OTT services crowd the fall with new perspectives and legend-coded dread. Across the art-house lane, the independent cohort is carried on the carry from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween holding the peak, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are intentional, accordingly 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige fear returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner starts the year with an audacious swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, instead in a current-day frame. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. timed for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer fades, Warner’s pipeline releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time, the stakes are raised, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The return delves further into myth, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It hits in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Economy, maximum dread

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a close quarters body horror study starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No bloated mythology. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Brands: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror swings back
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

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 approaching fright release year: continuations, new stories, plus A packed Calendar Built For screams

Dek: The upcoming terror slate clusters from the jump with a January traffic jam, before it stretches through the mid-year, and continuing into the holiday frame, combining IP strength, new concepts, and smart release strategy. The major players are doubling down on responsible budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-fueled campaigns that transform these offerings into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has proven to be the sturdy release in release plans, a lane that can spike when it clicks and still mitigate the drag when it stumbles. After 2023 reminded studio brass that responsibly budgeted genre plays can lead the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and sleeper breakouts. The carry carried into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and prestige plays made clear there is capacity for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that play globally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a slate that shows rare alignment across players, with planned clusters, a harmony of brand names and novel angles, and a renewed priority on exhibition windows that boost PVOD and platform value on paid VOD and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the space now serves as a versatile piece on the rollout map. The genre can roll out on nearly any frame, supply a sharp concept for promo reels and TikTok spots, and outperform with crowds that arrive on early shows and hold through the second frame if the feature fires. On the heels of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 mapping indicates trust in that engine. The slate launches with a weighty January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a autumn push that runs into the Halloween corridor and into post-Halloween. The calendar also highlights the deeper integration of specialized imprints and OTT outlets that can launch in limited release, stoke social talk, and widen at the precise moment.

A second macro trend is brand curation across shared IP webs and legacy IP. The studios are not just producing another entry. They are shaping as ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a brandmark that signals a new tone or a casting choice that ties a new entry to a classic era. At the same time, the visionaries behind the marquee originals are celebrating in-camera technique, practical gags and grounded locations. That pairing produces 2026 a confident blend of home base and discovery, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount sets the tone early with two big-ticket releases that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the front, presenting it as both a succession moment and a back-to-basics character-focused installment. Production is active in Atlanta, and the story approach points to a nostalgia-forward strategy without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive driven by recognizable motifs, character previews, and a trailer cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will feature. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will drive four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever dominates the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three specific releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is crisp, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man implements an AI companion that turns into a harmful mate. The date puts it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to recreate creepy live activations and short reels that interweaves intimacy and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a title reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the early tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s releases are branded as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second wave of trailers that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The spooky-season slot opens a lane 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel cinematic on a mid-range budget. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror blast that leans hard into worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio sets two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, extending a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off navigate here branch moves forward. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is selling as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both longtime followers and fresh viewers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build artifacts around lore, and monster aesthetics, elements that can lift premium screens and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by meticulous craft and linguistic texture, this time exploring werewolf lore. The specialty arm has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is favorable.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films land on copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ordering that amplifies both launch urgency and subscriber lifts in the late-window. Prime Video balances licensed films with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library pulls, using seasonal hubs, holiday hubs, and staff picks to keep attention on the horror cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about first-party entries and festival buys, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and framing as events releases with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a one-two of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which click site Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a situational basis. The platform has shown appetite to invest in select projects with top-tier auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 runway with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, updated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to broaden. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception prompts. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using small theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By skew, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on legacy this website awareness. The challenge, as ever, is brand wear. The preferred tactic is to position each entry as a new angle. Paramount is leading with character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a Francophone tone from a fresh helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the assembly is grounded enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Three-year comps announce the logic. In 2023, a theater-first model that respected streaming windows did not preclude a day-and-date experiment from delivering when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror rose in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters filmed in sequence, builds a path for marketing to connect the chapters through cast and motif and to sustain campaign assets without lulls.

Production craft signals

The production chatter behind these films forecast a continued shift toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which match well with expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that center disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar cadence

January is jammed. 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 heftier brand moves. The month concludes 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 enables clean play for each if word of mouth holds.

Pre-summer months load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited advance reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can play the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card redemption.

Project briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s algorithmic partner becomes something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 struggle to survive on a desolate island as the power balance of power turns and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fear, based on Cronin’s physical craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting tale that interrogates the fright of a child’s shaky impressions. Rating: to be announced. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that pokes at of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras due to roll 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 bursts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new household lashed to past horrors. Rating: pending. 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 preference for survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: TBD. Production: ongoing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and elemental dread. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three pragmatic forces organize this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest bite-size scare clips from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, clearing runway for genre entries that can control a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will compete across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 search for sleepers 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first shock 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 beat and breadth. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 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 trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient placements, 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 tactility, sound field, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is name recognition where it counts, original vision 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.