Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites primordial evil, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

A spine-tingling unearthly fear-driven tale from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an long-buried malevolence when passersby become pawns in a cursed trial. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of struggle and old world terror that will redefine genre cinema this scare season. Directed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and atmospheric suspense flick follows five unknowns who snap to caught in a wilderness-bound house under the aggressive manipulation of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a legendary biblical demon. Prepare to be enthralled by a big screen spectacle that fuses raw fear with mystical narratives, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a time-honored pillar in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is radically shifted when the dark entities no longer arise from an outside force, but rather within themselves. This embodies the darkest shade of all involved. The result is a intense spiritual tug-of-war where the plotline becomes a relentless battle between purity and corruption.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five individuals find themselves caught under the ominous grip and curse of a unidentified spirit. As the companions becomes incapable to break her will, left alone and preyed upon by evils beyond comprehension, they are confronted to reckon with their inner demons while the countdown harrowingly draws closer toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion intensifies and partnerships splinter, urging each figure to contemplate their existence and the notion of freedom of choice itself. The cost climb with every fleeting time, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that marries demonic fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dive into instinctual horror, an darkness that predates humanity, feeding on soul-level flaws, and confronting a darkness that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra meant evoking something deeper than fear. She is in denial until the haunting manifests, and that pivot is bone-chilling because it is so personal.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for audience access beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—delivering audiences globally can enjoy this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has pulled in over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, presenting the nightmare to a global viewership.


Be sure to catch this unforgettable ride through nightmares. Join *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to witness these haunting secrets about our species.


For cast commentary, behind-the-scenes content, and reveals from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror Turning Point: 2025 U.S. calendar fuses old-world possession, Indie Shockers, and franchise surges

Moving from survivor-centric dread grounded in mythic scripture as well as installment follow-ups alongside surgical indie voices, 2025 stands to become the most textured together with tactically planned year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio majors plant stakes across the year with established lines, as digital services saturate the fall with fresh voices alongside legend-coded dread. On the festival side, the independent cohort is surfing the momentum from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, though in this cycle, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are surgical, therefore 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s distribution arm lights the fuse with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, instead in a current-day frame. Steered by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Directed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule delivers the closing chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma driven plotting, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

SVOD Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Next comes Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a calculated bet. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

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

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror resurges
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

The Road Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The new spook release year: Sequels, universe starters, And A busy Calendar tailored for shocks

Dek: The arriving scare slate loads at the outset with a January wave, and then extends through peak season, and pushing into the holidays, mixing name recognition, new voices, and data-minded alternatives. The big buyers and platforms are embracing smart costs, big-screen-first runs, and influencer-ready assets that pivot the slate’s entries into national conversation.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has proven to be the consistent swing in programming grids, a lane that can grow when it catches and still protect the exposure when it does not. After 2023 reassured strategy teams that cost-conscious genre plays can dominate social chatter, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The carry fed into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects made clear there is room for diverse approaches, from sequel tracks to original one-offs that translate worldwide. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a mix of familiar brands and novel angles, and a re-energized commitment on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on premium home window and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the category now acts as a flex slot on the grid. The genre can kick off on a wide range of weekends, supply a clear pitch for teasers and social clips, and over-index with ticket buyers that line up on preview nights and maintain momentum through the next pass if the film pays off. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern exhibits conviction in that logic. The slate starts with a crowded January lineup, then taps spring and early summer for balance, while leaving room for a September to October window that runs into spooky season and past Halloween. The calendar also reflects the tightening integration of indie distributors and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and scale up at the strategic time.

A companion trend is brand management across shared universes and heritage properties. Studios are not just releasing another return. They are shaping as brand continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title design that signals a new vibe or a cast configuration that binds a new installment to a original cycle. At the same time, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are favoring practical craft, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That combination affords 2026 a confident blend of assurance and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount opens strong with two prominent releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-focused installment. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture telegraphs a heritage-honoring angle without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive rooted in legacy iconography, first images of characters, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off 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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will hunt wide appeal through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format making room for quick turns to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three clear plays. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, somber, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an virtual partner that shifts into a perilous partner. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to replay eerie street stunts and short-cut promos that blurs attachment and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the debut look. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s releases are set up as creative events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has established that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning treatment can feel premium on a tight budget. Expect a splatter summer horror surge that maximizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio books two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, carrying a evergreen supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is selling as a new foundation 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 sharper mandate to serve both devotees and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around lore, and creature design, elements that can amplify format premiums and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by immersive craft and dialect, this time circling werewolf lore. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a tiered path that fortifies both debut momentum and platform bumps in the later window. Prime Video stitches together third-party pickups with global originals and targeted theatrical runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using editorial spots, Halloween hubs, and featured rows to lengthen the tail on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival acquisitions, finalizing horror entries tight to release and coalescing around arrivals with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with established auteurs or star packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is direct: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a theatrical-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the late-season weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, shepherding the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has delivered for arthouse horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception allows. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Balance of brands and originals

By share, 2026 bends toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage marquee value. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to brand each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is elevating relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French sensibility from a fresh helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and visionary-led titles add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the team and cast is steady enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set outline the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that held distribution windows did not obstruct a parallel release from paying off when the brand was powerful. In 2024, precision craft horror rose in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel new when they change perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, lets marketing to bridge entries through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without long breaks.

Behind-the-camera trends

The filmmaking conversations behind the 2026 slate foreshadow a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that leans on texture and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft spotlights before rolling out a teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and spurs shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta recalibration that centers its original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature design and production design, which fit with booth activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel compelling. Look for trailers that underscore hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that work in PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is stacked. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid heftier brand moves. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Winter into spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that elevate concept over story.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s machine mate escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: get redirected here Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss struggle to survive on a uninhabited island as the control balance inverts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 modern reconception that returns the monster to fright, rooted in Cronin’s practical effects and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting piece that mediates the fear via a youngster’s unsteady point of view. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that teases contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming slated 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 breaks out, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family tethered to old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: pending. Logline: A restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: pending. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and primordial menace. Rating: TBD. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026, why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and accelerated 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 beaten straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

The slot calculus is real. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can command a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will compete across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 lower and 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 work those windows. 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, 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 tempo and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, audio design, 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is IP strength where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, guard the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.