Age-old Terror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 on global platforms

A hair-raising ghostly fear-driven tale from author / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial evil when passersby become instruments in a satanic trial. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of resistance and age-old darkness that will reshape genre cinema this scare season. Helmed by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and emotionally thick cinema piece follows five people who regain consciousness stuck in a wooded wooden structure under the ominous will of Kyra, a young woman inhabited by a legendary religious nightmare. Brace yourself to be ensnared by a big screen venture that blends primitive horror with ancient myths, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a recurring tradition in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the spirits no longer manifest outside their bodies, but rather from their psyche. This represents the most hidden aspect of the protagonists. The result is a edge-of-seat identity crisis where the suspense becomes a perpetual contest between moral forces.


In a wilderness-stricken natural abyss, five adults find themselves trapped under the evil sway and inhabitation of a uncanny female figure. As the group becomes incapacitated to oppose her curse, detached and attacked by spirits inconceivable, they are thrust to acknowledge their soulful dreads while the deathwatch coldly ticks toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust rises and teams collapse, urging each member to challenge their self and the concept of independent thought itself. The intensity surge with every fleeting time, delivering a horror experience that intertwines unearthly horror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dive into raw dread, an curse beyond recorded history, operating within our fears, and dealing with a evil that dismantles free will when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra needed manifesting something more primal than sorrow. She is in denial until the curse activates, and that shift is gut-wrenching because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for streaming beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering users from coast to coast can engage with this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its initial teaser, which has racked up over 100K plays.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, spreading the horror to fans of fear everywhere.


Witness this cinematic journey into fear. Join *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to acknowledge these evil-rooted truths about human nature.


For previews, making-of footage, and social posts from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit the official website.





Contemporary horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 cycle U.S. calendar interlaces myth-forward possession, Indie Shockers, paired with returning-series thunder

Ranging from survivor-centric dread grounded in near-Eastern lore to IP renewals plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is lining up as the genre’s most multifaceted together with deliberate year of the last decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. top-tier distributors lock in tentpoles with established lines, in parallel SVOD players flood the fall with new perspectives together with ancient terrors. Meanwhile, independent banners is buoyed by the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are surgical, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures lights the fuse with a big gambit: a refreshed Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. targeting mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Eli Craig directs anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Next is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: period tinged dread, trauma as theme, with spooky supernatural reasoning. Here the stakes rise, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It hits in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

More contained by design is Together, a sealed box body horror arc fronted 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. Absent a posted platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story led by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No continuity burden. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. 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 is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Signals and Trends

Ancient myth goes wide
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Forward View: Fall crush plus winter X factor

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The oncoming Horror Year Ahead: Sequels, Originals, paired with A Crowded Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek: The arriving terror season loads in short order with a January wave, subsequently unfolds through summer corridors, and far into the late-year period, marrying brand heft, original angles, and calculated counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are relying on efficient budgets, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that convert the slate’s entries into all-audience topics.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The field has solidified as the bankable move in release strategies, a pillar that can grow when it resonates and still limit the downside when it fails to connect. After 2023 demonstrated to greenlighters that disciplined-budget entries can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 held pace with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The energy rolled into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and awards-minded projects highlighted there is a lane for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that scale internationally. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a calendar that appears tightly organized across the field, with intentional bunching, a mix of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a recommitted eye on exhibition windows that fuel later windows on premium on-demand and home streaming.

Insiders argue the genre now functions as a flex slot on the programming map. The genre can debut on many corridors, furnish a grabby hook for teasers and reels, and exceed norms with viewers that arrive on preview nights and maintain momentum through the sophomore frame if the entry connects. Emerging from a production delay era, the 2026 pattern exhibits belief in that playbook. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January run, then targets spring into early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a autumn push that pushes into late October and into November. The gridline also shows the increasing integration of specialized imprints and SVOD players that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and broaden at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is legacy care across connected story worlds and long-running brands. The companies are not just turning out another sequel. They are setting up ongoing narrative with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a new tone or a casting move that binds a next entry to a original cycle. At the very same time, the visionaries behind the most buzzed-about originals are embracing real-world builds, on-set effects and site-specific worlds. That blend offers the 2026 slate a vital pairing of known notes and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount defines the early cadence with two marquee entries 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 position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a roots-evoking campaign without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign rooted in recognizable motifs, character spotlights, and a tease cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt broad awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever dominates the social talk that spring.

Universal has three unique entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is clean, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man brings home an machine companion that mutates into a dangerous lover. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s promo team likely to revisit eerie street stunts and snackable content that hybridizes affection and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio Check This Out dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a proper title to become an fan moment closer to the early tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele titles are branded as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame affords Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, hands-on effects strategy can feel high-value on a middle budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror jolt that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a steady supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has adjusted timing 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 steps back in what Sony is positioning as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both devotees and first-timers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build materials around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can boost IMAX and PLF uptake and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror driven by meticulous craft and language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s horror titles move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a structure that amplifies both initial urgency and sign-up momentum in the back half. Prime Video balances licensed films with cross-border buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using seasonal hubs, Halloween hubs, and collection rows to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix retains agility about own-slate titles and festival grabs, scheduling horror entries near their drops and coalescing around rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a dual-phase of precision releases and quick 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 turning to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with prestige directors or headline-cast packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly engagement when the genre conversation swells.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 slate with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a cinema-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday slot to scale. That positioning has paid off for craft-driven horror with wider appeal. 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 plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception merits. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using boutique theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By proportion, 2026 tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use marquee value. The challenge, as ever, is fatigue. The practical approach is to sell each entry as a new angle. Paramount is underscoring character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is assuring enough to accelerate early sales and advance-audience nights.

Comps from the last three years help explain the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, enables marketing to cross-link entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind 2026 horror hint at a continued emphasis on in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that foregrounds grain and menace rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for expo activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that spotlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Winter into spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late-season stretch leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a bridge slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a peekaboo tease plan and limited information drops that trade in concept over detail.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s intelligent companion grows into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss work to survive on a remote island as the chain of command swivels and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller 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 terror, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that frames the panic through a minor’s uneven POV. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-crafted and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A parody return that pokes at hot-button genre motifs and true crime fixations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new household anchored to old terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBA. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

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

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-specific language and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why this year, why now

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shuffled in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the news discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, soundscape, and cinematography 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 update. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand heft where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the fear sell the seats.