Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 across premium platforms

An spine-tingling metaphysical terror film from storyteller / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an timeless horror when newcomers become instruments in a demonic experiment. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching story of overcoming and old world terror that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this spooky time. Helmed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and tone-heavy story follows five unknowns who emerge sealed in a isolated shelter under the aggressive power of Kyra, a tormented girl occupied by a timeless religious nightmare. Be prepared to be drawn in by a motion picture outing that combines deep-seated panic with mythic lore, dropping on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a recurring foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is radically shifted when the spirits no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather deep within. This portrays the most terrifying element of every character. The result is a relentless internal warfare where the tension becomes a relentless face-off between heaven and hell.


In a isolated backcountry, five youths find themselves confined under the dark presence and domination of a shadowy female presence. As the companions becomes unresisting to reject her command, exiled and stalked by unknowns impossible to understand, they are compelled to face their raw vulnerabilities while the moments without pause draws closer toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion intensifies and ties implode, compelling each soul to evaluate their being and the philosophy of decision-making itself. The stakes intensify with every heartbeat, delivering a fear-soaked story that merges otherworldly suspense with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to draw upon elemental fright, an power before modern man, influencing emotional fractures, and confronting a being that peels away humanity when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra was centered on something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the curse activates, and that pivot is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving fans around the globe can experience this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has been viewed over 100,000 views.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, taking the terror to global fright lovers.


Avoid skipping this gripping journey into fear. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to see these evil-rooted truths about inner darkness.


For previews, behind-the-scenes content, and promotions from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across online outlets and visit the official website.





Today’s horror inflection point: 2025 in focus U.S. Slate braids together old-world possession, signature indie scares, plus series shake-ups

Across pressure-cooker survival tales suffused with mythic scripture all the way to brand-name continuations paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered combined with calculated campaign year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio majors lock in tentpoles through proven series, simultaneously SVOD players prime the fall with discovery plays in concert with old-world menace. Meanwhile, festival-forward creators is drafting behind the tailwinds of 2024’s record festival wave. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the other windows are mapped with care. 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, therefore 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal begins the calendar with a confident swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Directed by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. set 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 brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Led by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, the WB camp launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The ante is higher this round, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It lands in December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined 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 movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 a calculated bet. No puffed out backstory. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

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 lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy IP: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Key Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror retakes ground
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The oncoming spook lineup: follow-ups, new stories, as well as A packed Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The incoming terror calendar crowds up front with a January bottleneck, after that unfolds through midyear, and continuing into the late-year period, mixing name recognition, novel approaches, and calculated release strategy. Major distributors and platforms are committing to tight budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-fueled campaigns that turn genre titles into four-quadrant talking points.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has established itself as the bankable lever in release strategies, a space that can accelerate when it hits and still safeguard the risk when it fails to connect. After 2023 re-taught studio brass that efficiently budgeted genre plays can drive the national conversation, the following year sustained momentum with visionary-driven titles and surprise hits. The energy fed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and critical darlings signaled there is a market for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a roster that appears tightly organized across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a mix of known properties and new pitches, and a revived emphasis on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and home streaming.

Executives say the space now performs as a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can debut on most weekends, deliver a clear pitch for ad units and reels, and lead with viewers that respond on advance nights and hold through the next pass if the feature connects. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 layout demonstrates belief in that setup. The year launches with a front-loaded January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for balance, while leaving room for a October build that connects to late October and past the holiday. The arrangement also reflects the tightening integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and roll out at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and long-running brands. The studios are not just turning out another chapter. They are working to present connection with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that conveys a fresh attitude or a casting pivot that ties a upcoming film to a early run. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the marquee originals are prioritizing practical craft, practical gags and location-forward worlds. That convergence yields 2026 a smart balance of assurance and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount sets the tone early with two prominent moves that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a handoff and a heritage-centered character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach announces a nostalgia-forward bent without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. Look for a marketing run driven by heritage visuals, character previews, and a two-beat trailer plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will chase mass reach through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is efficient, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an virtual partner that turns into a murderous partner. The date locates it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to renew eerie street stunts and short reels that melds longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a final title to become an headline beat closer to the initial promo. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are sold as filmmaker events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, on-set effects led strategy can feel high-value on a lean spend. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror blast that leans into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, holding a consistent supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is describing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both longtime followers and new audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build assets around setting detail, and creature work, elements that can fuel premium screens and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and textual fidelity, this time orbiting lycan myth. The company has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre entries feed copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a ladder that amplifies both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video interleaves outside acquisitions with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library pulls, using seasonal hubs, seasonal hubs, and curated rows to prolong the run on overall cume. Netflix keeps options open about original films and festival pickups, scheduling horror entries tight to release and positioning as event drops drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a staged of targeted cinema placements and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with award winners or marquee packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 track with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is no-nonsense: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a standard theatrical run for the title, an good sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then using the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has served the company well for prestige horror 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 typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception warrants. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their user base.

Series vs standalone

By number, the 2026 slate tips toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on cultural cachet. The concern, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and click site New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-flavored turn from a rising filmmaker. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the configuration is comforting enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set clarify the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that observed windows did not deter a simultaneous release test from working when the brand was sticky. In 2024, auteur craft horror popped in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on 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 shot in tandem, permits marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without pause points.

Technique and craft currents

The creative meetings behind these films point to a continued move toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that spotlights unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and technical spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and produces shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta recalibration that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster aesthetics and world-building, which match well with fan-con activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that shine in top rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is stacked. 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 tonal palate cleanser amid marquee brands. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tonal variety affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Early-year through spring seed summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a opaque tease strategy and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

One-sentence have a peek here dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s machine mate grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 demanding boss push to survive on a isolated island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting premise that filters its scares through a minor’s shifting subjective lens. Rating: TBA. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-crafted and star-led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that pokes at hot-button genre motifs and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: currently 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: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a different family caught in past horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on classic survival-horror tone over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: undetermined. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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: TBD. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 lands now

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict 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 premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work clippable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can control a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will coexist across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 low-to-mid 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit 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 chilly, 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 compound over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sound, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, 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 secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.