Primeval Dread Returns in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling thriller, rolling out Oct 2025 on top digital platforms

A hair-raising occult suspense story from screenwriter / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic malevolence when strangers become pawns in a diabolical struggle. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful account of continuance and primordial malevolence that will remodel scare flicks this autumn. Created by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and eerie tale follows five characters who wake up stuck in a isolated hideaway under the hostile grip of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a millennia-old ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be gripped by a screen-based event that weaves together instinctive fear with biblical origins, arriving on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a legendary fixture in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is turned on its head when the fiends no longer come outside the characters, but rather inside them. This suggests the most terrifying layer of the group. The result is a emotionally raw internal warfare where the conflict becomes a relentless fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a remote terrain, five friends find themselves confined under the evil grip and infestation of a unidentified female figure. As the ensemble becomes incapacitated to combat her curse, cut off and tracked by forces mind-shattering, they are made to confront their inner horrors while the final hour unceasingly ticks onward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and ties disintegrate, pushing each protagonist to examine their character and the concept of autonomy itself. The hazard intensify with every passing moment, delivering a frightening tale that fuses ghostly evil with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to uncover primal fear, an malevolence beyond time, channeling itself through soul-level flaws, and exposing a will that strips down our being when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is unseeing until the control shifts, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so internal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing households in all regions can survive this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, making the film to a global viewership.


Do not miss this bone-rattling exploration of dread. Experience *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to explore these chilling revelations about human nature.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and alerts from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across entertainment pages and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s sea change: 2025 U.S. lineup melds primeval-possession lore, signature indie scares, alongside legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare rooted in legendary theology and including installment follow-ups alongside focused festival visions, 2025 is tracking to be the most dimensioned and carefully orchestrated year since the mid-2010s.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year with familiar IP, simultaneously streaming platforms prime the fall with fresh voices set against scriptural shivers. Meanwhile, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the afterglow of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are disciplined, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium dread reemerges

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal lights the fuse with an audacious swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. set for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, the Warner lot sets loose the finale inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re engages, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma centered writing, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This run ups the stakes, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The return delves further into myth, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Digital Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy 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. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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 is an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Lines: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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

Trend Lines

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Forecast: Fall saturation and a winter joker

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 Horror release year: returning titles, fresh concepts, as well as A loaded Calendar aimed at screams

Dek The brand-new horror season lines up from the jump with a January traffic jam, subsequently extends through summer corridors, and well into the December corridor, fusing name recognition, untold stories, and data-minded alternatives. Studios with streamers are focusing on cost discipline, cinema-first plans, and influencer-ready assets that shape these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has emerged as the steady release in programming grids, a space that can break out when it hits and still mitigate the floor when it misses. After 2023 proved to greenlighters that cost-conscious fright engines can shape pop culture, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and stealth successes. The tailwind carried into the 2025 frame, where reboots and elevated films proved there is an opening for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to director-led originals that translate worldwide. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a lineup that looks unusually coordinated across the major shops, with obvious clusters, a equilibrium of known properties and new packages, and a recommitted commitment on big-screen windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Planners observe the space now serves as a versatile piece on the rollout map. The genre can premiere on almost any weekend, offer a clear pitch for teasers and platform-native cuts, and outpace with ticket buyers that appear on first-look nights and maintain momentum through the sophomore frame if the offering pays off. In the wake of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 plan indicates belief in that playbook. The slate commences with a stacked January run, then uses spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while keeping space for a autumn push that carries into Halloween and past the holiday. The schedule also spotlights the deeper integration of specialized imprints and digital platforms that can platform a title, generate chatter, and roll out at the optimal moment.

A reinforcing pattern is series management across shared universes and long-running brands. The players are not just mounting another continuation. They are aiming to frame story carry-over with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title presentation that broadcasts a reframed mood or a talent selection that anchors a new entry to a heyday. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are embracing physical effects work, special makeup and specific settings. That blend offers 2026 a healthy mix of known notes and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount defines the early cadence with two marquee titles that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, signaling it as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward relationship-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the narrative stance announces a heritage-honoring campaign without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run driven by classic imagery, intro reveals, and a tease cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will chase mainstream recognition through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick shifts to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three discrete entries. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, sorrow-tinged, and easily pitched: a grieving man installs an intelligent companion that escalates into a fatal companion. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to renew eerie street stunts and snackable content that melds companionship and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are branded as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a follow-up trailer set that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor lets the studio to lead 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has consistently shown that a gnarly, practical-effects forward treatment can feel elevated on a middle budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror jolt that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a consistent supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges 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 vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both loyalists and new audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around mythos, and creature design, elements that can fuel IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror centered on historical precision and period speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is robust.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on familiar rails. The studio’s horror films shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that boosts both launch urgency and sign-up spikes in the later window. Prime Video combines library titles with international acquisitions and targeted theatrical runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in archive usage, using seasonal hubs, genre hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on aggregate take. Netflix plays opportunist about originals and festival snaps, securing horror entries on shorter runways and positioning as event drops debuts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements and quick platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a discrete basis. The platform has signaled readiness to board select projects with name filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 corridor 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 sell is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, modernized for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday slot to increase reach. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-driven genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception justifies. Do not be surprised by 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 together, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is staleness. The standing approach is to position each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is centering character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a European tilt from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comparable trends from recent years announce the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not prevent a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was robust. In 2024, art-forward horror punched above its weight in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to link the films through cast and motif and to keep assets in-market without extended gaps.

How the films are being made

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries forecast a continued shift toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that spotlights aura and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in trade spotlights and craft features before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta recalibration that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which match well with expo activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel key. Look for trailers that emphasize fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that explode in larger rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is busy. 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the spread of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late winter and spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop 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.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited advance reveals that lean on concept not plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s synthetic partner mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: tone-first 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 hard-edged boss scramble to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to horror, rooted in Cronin’s practical 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 setup that teases the panic of a child’s uncertain perspective. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-built and star-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A comic send-up that satirizes current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBD. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 flares, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. 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: to be announced publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over action-forward bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: undetermined. Production: proceeding. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three hands-on forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine social-ready stingers from test screenings, curated scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

The slot calculus is real. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is Get More Info the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will coexist across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where midrange-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 work those windows. 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sound field, and visuals 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is recognizable IP where it plays, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.