Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives age-old dread, a fear soaked thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A eerie paranormal shockfest from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an primeval fear when foreigners become tools in a supernatural contest. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching tale of continuance and age-old darkness that will reimagine horror this season. Brought to life by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and emotionally thick cinema piece follows five people who arise stuck in a secluded lodge under the ominous power of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a biblical-era religious nightmare. Be warned to be shaken by a big screen ride that weaves together instinctive fear with biblical origins, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a iconic tradition in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the monsters no longer appear from a different plane, but rather internally. This symbolizes the most sinister element of these individuals. The result is a enthralling cognitive warzone where the suspense becomes a ongoing face-off between virtue and vice.


In a barren woodland, five friends find themselves marooned under the malevolent effect and infestation of a obscure female figure. As the victims becomes incapacitated to break her dominion, abandoned and chased by forces inconceivable, they are forced to encounter their inner demons while the final hour coldly winds toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust surges and relationships fracture, forcing each individual to doubt their core and the concept of personal agency itself. The threat escalate with every fleeting time, delivering a terror ride that integrates occult fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dig into elemental fright, an malevolence that existed before mankind, manifesting in our weaknesses, and wrestling with a curse that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra meant evoking something more primal than sorrow. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that change is gut-wrenching because it is so internal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for streaming beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving households internationally can experience this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has earned over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, bringing the film to horror fans worldwide.


Be sure to catch this mind-warping voyage through terror. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to explore these evil-rooted truths about the psyche.


For director insights, filmmaker commentary, and insider scoops directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your socials and visit our film’s homepage.





The horror genre’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 American release plan weaves biblical-possession ideas, festival-born jolts, stacked beside series shake-ups

Beginning with endurance-driven terror rooted in scriptural legend and onward to legacy revivals alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is emerging as the richest combined with strategic year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. major banners set cornerstones with familiar IP, in tandem SVOD players pack the fall with new voices plus ancient terrors. On another front, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is surfing the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, yet in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: High-craft horror returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a bold swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. From director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. set for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Eli Craig directs and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. Pictures unveils the final movement of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re teams, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retro dread, trauma as theme, and eerie supernatural logic. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The return delves further into myth, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It arrives in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Firsts: Low budgets, big teeth

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

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

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No legacy baggage. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Brands: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With sharp marketing, it could translate to 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.

Dials to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror ascends again
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 genre Year Ahead: Sequels, fresh concepts, paired with A stacked Calendar tailored for jolts

Dek The upcoming genre season lines up early with a January logjam, from there stretches through June and July, and well into the festive period, blending legacy muscle, untold stories, and shrewd counterplay. Studios with streamers are prioritizing smart costs, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that position genre titles into cross-demo moments.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The genre has proven to be the bankable release in annual schedules, a lane that can surge when it connects and still hedge the downside when it falls short. After 2023 re-taught executives that mid-range fright engines can command pop culture, 2024 extended the rally with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The carry rolled into 2025, where resurrections and critical darlings demonstrated there is a market for several lanes, from ongoing IP entries to original one-offs that travel well. The net effect for 2026 is a calendar that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with intentional bunching, a harmony of known properties and fresh ideas, and a tightened emphasis on theatrical windows that power the aftermarket on premium on-demand and SVOD.

Buyers contend the genre now acts as a wildcard on the rollout map. Horror can roll out on nearly any frame, deliver a grabby hook for teasers and shorts, and exceed norms with ticket buyers that appear on first-look nights and return through the second frame if the picture lands. Following a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 layout telegraphs assurance in that approach. The slate commences with a weighty January window, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a late-year stretch that pushes into the Halloween frame and into the next week. The gridline also illustrates the greater integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can platform and widen, ignite recommendations, and broaden at the right moment.

A companion trend is brand curation across linked properties and legacy IP. The players are not just rolling another sequel. They are looking to package continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that suggests a refreshed voice or a star attachment that reconnects a incoming chapter to a classic era. At the very same time, the directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are championing on-set craft, in-camera effects and place-driven backdrops. That blend hands 2026 a healthy mix of brand comfort and freshness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two headline entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, angling it as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character piece. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach hints at a throwback-friendly approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on classic imagery, intro reveals, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will play up. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will seek broad awareness through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format inviting quick updates to whatever rules the conversation that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, heartbroken, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an machine companion that grows into a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s marketing likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and short-form creative that interlaces affection and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a official title to become an attention spike closer to the debut look. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele projects are treated as marquee events, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage 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 steers, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gnarly, hands-on effects execution can feel top-tier on a moderate cost. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror blast that leans into worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, sustaining a proven supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio 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 focus to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can amplify IMAX and PLF uptake 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 maintains Eggers’ run of period horror built on obsessive craft and textual fidelity, this time engaging werewolf myth. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a pacing that elevates both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video will mix catalogue additions with worldwide entries and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using editorial spots, horror hubs, and collection rows to prolong the run on aggregate take. Netflix keeps optionality about original films and festival pickups, finalizing horror entries near their drops and coalescing around go-lives with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a hybrid of selective theatrical runs and rapid platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has proven amenable to invest in select projects with recognized filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation peaks.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 arc with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is no-nonsense: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a theatrical-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn stretch.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, guiding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday corridor to move out. That positioning has worked well for elevated genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception encourages. Do not be surprised by 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 hand in hand, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their audience.

Balance of brands and originals

By share, 2026 tips toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The preferred tactic is to market each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the deal build is comforting enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps help explain the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept clean windows did not block a day-date move from winning when the brand was big. In 2024, precision craft horror over-performed in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reorient and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character web and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The creative meetings behind this year’s genre signal a continued bias toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead press and technical spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta recalibration that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature craft and set design, which play well in con floor moments and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that play in premium auditoriums.

Month-by-month map

January is loaded. 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 somber counterpoint amid larger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the tone spread makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth persists.

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

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card spend.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genome. 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 AI companion unfolds into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 run into a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: gothic-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 claw to survive on a rugged island as the power balance of power shifts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fright, shaped by Cronin’s tactile craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting premise that routes the horror through a child’s uneven personal vantage. Rating: pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural 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 parody return that skewers modern genre fads and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras due to roll 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 detonates, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new clan linked to older hauntings. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: TBD. Production: active. 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 era-accurate language and elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three execution-level forces shape this lineup. First, production that paused or shifted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming drops. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage repeatable beats from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD navigate to this website phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, 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 materiality, sound field, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is recognizable IP where it plays, 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.