Age-old Horror emerges: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding chiller, rolling out October 2025 on leading streamers

This frightening spiritual terror film from screenwriter / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an primeval malevolence when foreigners become tools in a hellish ordeal. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish tale of staying alive and forgotten curse that will reimagine terror storytelling this ghoul season. Visualized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and emotionally thick film follows five unacquainted souls who regain consciousness caught in a wilderness-bound hideaway under the aggressive manipulation of Kyra, a female lead occupied by a timeless biblical demon. Prepare to be captivated by a big screen spectacle that weaves together visceral dread with arcane tradition, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a enduring element in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is turned on its head when the dark entities no longer descend externally, but rather from within. This marks the most hidden facet of these individuals. The result is a harrowing inner struggle where the drama becomes a perpetual battle between heaven and hell.


In a barren backcountry, five youths find themselves contained under the possessive sway and curse of a unknown character. As the group becomes submissive to fight her curse, exiled and hunted by creatures inconceivable, they are required to stand before their worst nightmares while the final hour relentlessly draws closer toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear deepens and friendships shatter, pressuring each character to scrutinize their identity and the philosophy of autonomy itself. The cost mount with every second, delivering a horror experience that intertwines supernatural terror with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to extract ancestral fear, an entity that predates humanity, emerging via fragile psyche, and testing a force that erodes the self when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is clueless until the spirit seizes her, and that flip is haunting because it is so close.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—offering users around the globe can watch this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original clip, which has gathered over strong viewer count.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, spreading the horror to a worldwide audience.


Don’t miss this visceral fall into madness. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these nightmarish insights about the psyche.


For featurettes, making-of footage, and press updates from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the film’s website.





The horror genre’s inflection point: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts blends ancient-possession motifs, underground frights, together with Franchise Rumbles

Kicking off with life-or-death fear steeped in biblical myth and including installment follow-ups paired with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the richest and calculated campaign year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. Major studios lock in tentpoles with franchise anchors, in parallel platform operators prime the fall with emerging auteurs alongside old-world menace. At the same time, independent banners is riding the afterglow from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, but this year, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are exacting, which means 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium dread reemerges

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a marquee bet: a modernized Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a crisp modern milieu. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. From director Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner rolls out the capstone from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson re boards, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This time, the stakes are raised, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, speaking to teens and older millennials. It hits in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a tight space body horror vignette featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend featuring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a calculated bet. No overweight mythology. No continuity burden. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy IP: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Projection: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. 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. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The approaching genre calendar year ahead: follow-ups, Originals, as well as A busy Calendar Built For screams

Dek: The emerging terror cycle lines up right away with a January pile-up, subsequently stretches through June and July, and carrying into the festive period, fusing IP strength, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. Studios and streamers are committing to right-sized spends, theatrical leads, and viral-minded pushes that transform these releases into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has established itself as the surest tool in annual schedules, a space that can spike when it breaks through and still insulate the drawdown when it under-delivers. After 2023 signaled to leaders that cost-conscious shockers can own mainstream conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The energy extended into the 2025 frame, where reboots and prestige plays confirmed there is capacity for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a slate that seems notably aligned across the industry, with strategic blocks, a equilibrium of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a tightened strategy on exhibition windows that feed downstream value on PVOD and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the rollout map. Horror can roll out on many corridors, deliver a clean hook for marketing and reels, and over-index with fans that arrive on Thursday previews and return through the sophomore frame if the release pays off. Following a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 cadence demonstrates conviction in that engine. The calendar rolls out with a thick January window, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while reserving space for a September to October window that pushes into the fright window and beyond. The calendar also reflects the deeper integration of arthouse labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, create conversation, and scale up at the timely point.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across unified worlds and classic IP. Distribution groups are not just pushing another installment. They are trying to present threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that indicates a new tone or a talent selection that connects a incoming chapter to a original cycle. At the concurrently, the directors behind the high-profile originals are leaning into material texture, practical effects and place-driven backdrops. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of assurance and shock, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two big-ticket pushes that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a throwback-friendly strategy without going over the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign stacked with franchise iconography, character-first teases, and a trailer cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will drive large awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever rules trend lines that spring.

Universal has three discrete entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is clean, tragic, and logline-clear: a grieving man sets up an synthetic partner that becomes a dangerous lover. The date lines it up at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to reprise viral uncanny stunts and brief clips that mixes companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a public title to news become an attention spike closer to the first look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s releases are branded as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-month date creates space for Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, hands-on effects method can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Expect a grime-caked summer horror charge that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio mounts two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, holding a reliable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is framing 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 players and novices. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build promo materials around world-building, and creature work, elements that can lift large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

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 maintains Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in meticulous craft and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that optimizes both debut momentum and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video combines catalogue additions with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using timely promos, horror hubs, and staff picks to prolong the run on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival buys, timing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around go-lives with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a two-step of precision releases and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a selective basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern sound and image. 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 telegraphed a theatrical rollout for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to increase reach. That positioning has helped for director-led 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 tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception justifies. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using select theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Legacy titles versus originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate leans toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use name recognition. The question, as ever, is staleness. The preferred tactic is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the deal build is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent-year comps outline the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from hitting when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, permits marketing to interlace chapters through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets in-market without lulls.

Craft and creative trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre indicate a continued lean toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates this contact form texture and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster realization and design, which favor con floor moments and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel necessary. Look for trailers that spotlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that benefit on big speakers.

Release calendar overview

January is full. 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 bigger brand plays. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months 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 was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop 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 shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a peekaboo tease plan and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s artificial companion evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 try to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power inverts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s practical effects and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting narrative that interrogates the panic of a child’s tricky interpretations. Rating: to be announced. Production: in the can. Positioning: major-studio and celebrity-led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that teases present-day genre chatter and true-crime manias. Rating: pending. Production: shoot planned 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 flares, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family anchored to old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A new start designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and elemental menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the moment is 2026

Three execution-level forces frame this lineup. First, production that decelerated or shifted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage clippable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

The slot calculus is real. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, making room for genre entries that can command a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will cluster across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where value-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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, 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 preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, smart allocations, 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 detail, aural design, and camera work 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand heft where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, cut crisp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.