Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a nerve shredding shocker, premiering Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A blood-curdling ghostly nightmare movie from dramatist / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an mythic malevolence when passersby become instruments in a fiendish ritual. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a intense episode of survival and old world terror that will reshape genre cinema this scare season. Brought to life by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and cinematic screenplay follows five individuals who find themselves ensnared in a isolated wooden structure under the dark will of Kyra, a young woman consumed by a millennia-old sacrosanct terror. Be prepared to be enthralled by a narrative spectacle that weaves together visceral dread with ancestral stories, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a mainstay theme in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is challenged when the beings no longer arise from external sources, but rather inside them. This portrays the shadowy dimension of these individuals. The result is a harrowing mental war where the emotions becomes a ongoing push-pull between moral forces.


In a remote wild, five friends find themselves marooned under the malevolent dominion and grasp of a unidentified apparition. As the team becomes powerless to withstand her control, exiled and pursued by entities unnamable, they are driven to confront their darkest emotions while the doomsday meter ruthlessly counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust surges and partnerships break, pushing each survivor to doubt their essence and the principle of liberty itself. The cost magnify with every tick, delivering a paranormal ride that combines otherworldly suspense with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to channel raw dread, an force before modern man, working through psychological breaks, and navigating a being that tests the soul when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra required summoning something beyond human emotion. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that pivot is terrifying because it is so emotional.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering watchers no matter where they are can be part of this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first preview, which has racked up over a viral response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, making the film to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this gripping path of possession. Join *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to dive into these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For teasers, director cuts, and reveals via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie’s homepage.





American horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 season domestic schedule fuses archetypal-possession themes, microbudget gut-punches, plus franchise surges

Ranging from last-stand terror saturated with biblical myth to brand-name continuations plus acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted plus blueprinted year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. Major studios lay down anchors by way of signature titles, concurrently streaming platforms load up the fall with discovery plays alongside scriptural shivers. On another front, the independent cohort is propelled by the carry of a banner 2024 fest year. Since Halloween is the prized date, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are surgical, thus 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige terror resurfaces

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Booked into mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule delivers the closing chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the tone that worked before is intact: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, plus otherworld rules that chill. The ante is higher this round, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It hits in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Slim budgets, major punch

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

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.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a smart play. No overstuffed canon. No IP hangover. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

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. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror ascends again
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Autumn density and winter pivot

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming Horror Year Ahead: follow-ups, fresh concepts, alongside A hectic Calendar Built For jolts

Dek The new scare cycle builds up front with a January crush, before it extends through the summer months, and deep into the holidays, combining name recognition, untold stories, and smart counterplay. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on smart costs, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that pivot horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has established itself as the most reliable swing in studio slates, a pillar that can scale when it resonates and still safeguard the exposure when it does not. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that disciplined-budget fright engines can lead cultural conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum moved into the 2025 frame, where revivals and critical darlings highlighted there is capacity for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to original one-offs that carry overseas. The end result for the 2026 slate is a slate that appears tightly organized across players, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of established brands and new pitches, and a revived attention on exclusive windows that increase tail monetization on premium home window and digital services.

Marketers add the horror lane now acts as a swing piece on the calendar. The genre can debut on virtually any date, yield a easy sell for creative and social clips, and lead with fans that line up on early shows and maintain momentum through the subsequent weekend if the title works. Post a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping demonstrates conviction in that approach. The calendar rolls out with a front-loaded January run, then primes spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a fall run that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The calendar also includes the tightening integration of specialty arms and platforms that can stage a platform run, stoke social talk, and scale up at the inflection point.

A parallel macro theme is series management across shared IP webs and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another return. They are setting up lore continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title presentation that announces a new tone or a casting move that reconnects a next entry to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the creative leads behind the most watched originals are championing practical craft, practical gags and specific settings. That alloy hands 2026 a solid mix of brand comfort and novelty, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount defines the early cadence with two marquee pushes that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, positioning the film as both a succession moment and a return-to-roots character-forward chapter. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a memory-charged angle without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. A campaign is expected fueled by classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

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 reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will seek four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format enabling quick redirects to whatever defines the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three specific projects. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, sorrow-tinged, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that evolves into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to iterate on viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that mixes attachment and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up 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 listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the early tease. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele titles are positioned as auteur events, with a concept-forward tease and a second trailer wave that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has proven that a visceral, practical-effects forward approach can feel deluxe on a middle budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror hit that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is marketing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both franchise faithful and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build marketing units around world-building, and creature work, elements that can lift premium booking interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by careful craft and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is glowing.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal titles flow to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a structure that maximizes both launch urgency and trial spikes in the tail. Prime Video combines licensed content with world buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and staff picks to prolong the run on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries near their drops and framing as events arrivals with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a dual-phase of precision releases and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a discrete basis. The platform has indicated interest to invest in select projects with established auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 sequence with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is tight: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-first horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 skews toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is audience fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch great post to read reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is recognizable enough to generate pre-sales and early previews.

Comps from the last three years help explain the method. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that preserved streaming windows did not block a simultaneous release test from hitting when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and elevate scope. 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 double feature plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, permits marketing to link the films through character and theme and to leave creative active without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The creative meetings behind the year’s horror suggest a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on tone and tension rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-true language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and technical spotlights before rolling out a 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 aimed at visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and gathers shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that centers its original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that highlight fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

How the year maps out

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid bigger brand plays. The month ends 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 formidable, but the tonal variety opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth persists.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a peekaboo tease plan and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can play the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s synthetic partner becomes something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed 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 returns 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: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: mood-led 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 fight to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s tactile craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 premise that frames the panic through a kid’s uncertain perspective. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

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: pending. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new household linked to lingering terrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: pending. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or rearranged in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will share space across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 lean-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 unexpected breakout 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, audio design, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Ready To Roar

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.