Age-old Terror Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 across global platforms

One blood-curdling paranormal suspense story from storyteller / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an age-old horror when strangers become subjects in a fiendish contest. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful portrayal of resilience and timeless dread that will alter horror this autumn. Brought to life by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and shadowy cinema piece follows five strangers who wake up confined in a wooded cottage under the malevolent sway of Kyra, a cursed figure claimed by a antiquated biblical force. Be prepared to be drawn in by a theatrical spectacle that intertwines soul-chilling terror with spiritual backstory, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a time-honored concept in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the fiends no longer appear from external sources, but rather internally. This depicts the most primal facet of the protagonists. The result is a relentless moral showdown where the narrative becomes a unyielding conflict between innocence and sin.


In a abandoned backcountry, five youths find themselves contained under the fiendish control and possession of a secretive entity. As the group becomes incapable to break her will, isolated and preyed upon by evils beyond comprehension, they are driven to endure their greatest panics while the timeline brutally edges forward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust deepens and teams splinter, coercing each soul to challenge their essence and the foundation of independent thought itself. The hazard surge with every heartbeat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that merges spiritual fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to awaken pure dread, an darkness that existed before mankind, channeling itself through mental cracks, and testing a power that strips down our being when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra needed manifesting something outside normal anguish. She is ignorant until the possession kicks in, and that pivot is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—ensuring streamers globally can get immersed in this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over notable views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, extending the thrill to fans of fear everywhere.


Join this unforgettable path of possession. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these spiritual awakenings about existence.


For featurettes, filmmaker commentary, and news from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your favorite networks and visit the official digital haunt.





Modern horror’s tipping point: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate Mixes legend-infused possession, underground frights, paired with IP aftershocks

Beginning with grit-forward survival fare saturated with legendary theology and onward to IP renewals set beside incisive indie visions, 2025 is emerging as the most stratified in tandem with tactically planned year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios lay down anchors through proven series, simultaneously premium streamers front-load the fall with emerging auteurs paired with ancient terrors. In the indie lane, independent banners is carried on the kinetic energy of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are precise, accordingly 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: The Return of Prestige Fear

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm begins the calendar with a headline swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Led by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner rolls out the capstone inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re boards, and the tone that worked before is intact: period tinged dread, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The return delves further into myth, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, a tight space body horror vignette led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide 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. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. 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 platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

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

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

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

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

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

Season Ahead: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The 2026 terror lineup: entries, fresh concepts, paired with A loaded Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek: The current genre calendar packs in short order with a January wave, after that spreads through June and July, and carrying into the year-end corridor, combining name recognition, novel approaches, and tactical alternatives. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and shareable marketing that transform these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has grown into the consistent lever in studio slates, a genre that can surge when it catches and still hedge the drawdown when it under-delivers. After 2023 reconfirmed for greenlighters that low-to-mid budget pictures can command cultural conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The run flowed into 2025, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers signaled there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a run that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with intentional bunching, a combination of established brands and new pitches, and a renewed focus on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on paid VOD and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the space now behaves like a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can arrive on most weekends, provide a sharp concept for creative and social clips, and lead with patrons that show up on Thursday previews and return through the sophomore frame if the release fires. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence underscores conviction in that engine. The calendar rolls out with a stacked January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a autumn stretch that pushes into the fright window and into post-Halloween. The program also includes the greater integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the proper time.

An added macro current is legacy care across shared IP webs and classic IP. The studios are not just turning out another next film. They are trying to present lineage with a occasion, whether that is a graphic identity that announces a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that connects a next entry to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are embracing real-world builds, on-set effects and location-forward worlds. That blend delivers 2026 a vital pairing of trust and surprise, which is what works overseas.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the spine, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character-forward chapter. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a legacy-leaning strategy without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push driven by recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a trailer cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early Check This Out 2000s, a selling point the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will go after general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever shapes the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that turns into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s promo team likely to replay viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that fuses romance and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a public title to become an PR pop closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s releases are sold as filmmaker events, with a opaque teaser and a later creative that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a tactile, makeup-driven approach can feel premium on a mid-range budget. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror shot that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, continuing a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is marketing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both players and curious audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build promo materials around world-building, and creature work, elements that can boost large-format demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by careful craft and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is favorable.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that fortifies both debut momentum and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video interleaves outside acquisitions with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in deep cuts, using prominent placements, horror hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, finalizing horror entries tight to release and turning into events arrivals with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a staged of selective theatrical runs and rapid platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

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 pitch is uncomplicated: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, recalibrated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has been successful for prestige horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Be ready for 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 jointly, using limited theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their membership.

Balance of brands and originals

By volume, the 2026 slate favors the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is viewer burnout. The workable fix is to package each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French sensibility from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and talent-first projects provide the air. 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, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is known enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not preclude a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was sticky. In 2024, auteur craft horror rose in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and grow 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 two-step approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without hiatuses.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind the year’s horror foreshadow a continued bias toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that spotlights texture and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that withholds plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for fan-con activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that accent disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges 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 and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect 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.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited plot reveals that trade in concept over detail.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s virtual companion evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. 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 unyielding boss try to survive on a rugged island as the control balance inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, driven by Cronin’s physical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting setup that twists the fear of a child’s fragile senses. Rating: TBD. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 erupts, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family tethered to 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: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on pure survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: to be announced. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: forthcoming. 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 time-true diction and elemental dread. Rating: TBD. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage meme-ready beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

The slot calculus is real. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will coexist across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 breakout hunt 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a spread, 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 somber, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundcraft, 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand power where it counts, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the scares sell the seats.