Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives age-old dread, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, premiering October 2025 across top streamers

One eerie mystic fright fest from dramatist / director Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an age-old terror when guests become tokens in a cursed struggle. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing chronicle of overcoming and primeval wickedness that will reshape terror storytelling this ghoul season. Brought to life by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and atmospheric suspense flick follows five unknowns who suddenly rise caught in a isolated house under the oppressive power of Kyra, a haunted figure haunted by a prehistoric sacrosanct terror. Anticipate to be ensnared by a filmic journey that integrates bone-deep fear with mystical narratives, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a time-honored theme in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is subverted when the presences no longer manifest outside their bodies, but rather from their core. This portrays the shadowy layer of all involved. The result is a riveting inner struggle where the story becomes a unyielding clash between divinity and wickedness.


In a remote terrain, five souls find themselves marooned under the ominous grip and control of a shadowy figure. As the victims becomes paralyzed to fight her curse, left alone and followed by unknowns indescribable, they are compelled to reckon with their raw vulnerabilities while the seconds without pity pushes forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease rises and friendships disintegrate, prompting each member to examine their being and the foundation of decision-making itself. The cost escalate with every tick, delivering a cinematic nightmare that integrates occult fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to explore basic terror, an force beyond recorded history, influencing mental cracks, and exposing a being that questions who we are when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant channeling something past sanity. She is uninformed until the spirit seizes her, and that evolution is deeply unsettling because it is so raw.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring subscribers no matter where they are can be part of this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its intro video, which has seen over 100,000 views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, extending the thrill to scare fans abroad.


Do not miss this soul-jarring fall into madness. Join *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to witness these chilling revelations about mankind.


For previews, set experiences, and reveals from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official digital haunt.





Horror’s major pivot: the 2025 season U.S. Slate interlaces myth-forward possession, art-house nightmares, set against series shake-ups

Beginning with endurance-driven terror rooted in primordial scripture and onward to legacy revivals set beside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is coalescing into the most stratified paired with precision-timed year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year with established lines, in tandem streaming platforms flood the fall with debut heat together with archetypal fear. Meanwhile, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the backdraft from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, yet in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are precise, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium genre swings back

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate sets the tone with a marquee bet: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring 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. dated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Steered by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer tapers, the Warner Bros. banner rolls out the capstone of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: vintage toned fear, trauma as narrative engine, with ghostly inner logic. This time the stakes climb, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The follow up digs further into canon, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, reaching teens and game grownups. It arrives in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

SVOD Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is destined for a fall landing.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn led by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived and directed 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by 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. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in 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 overweight mythology. No brand fatigue. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Signals and Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror ascends again
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching chiller release year: Sequels, original films, together with A Crowded Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek: The new genre calendar stacks from day one with a January cluster, from there unfolds through peak season, and deep into the winter holidays, braiding series momentum, original angles, and calculated counterprogramming. The major players are prioritizing efficient budgets, cinema-first plans, and influencer-ready assets that frame genre titles into mainstream chatter.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the bankable tool in release plans, a genre that can grow when it clicks and still cushion the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that disciplined-budget chillers can lead cultural conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The tailwind translated to the 2025 frame, where returns and filmmaker-prestige bets demonstrated there is an opening for different modes, from returning installments to original one-offs that translate worldwide. The upshot for 2026 is a schedule that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with strategic blocks, a blend of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a revived eye on release windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the space now performs as a utility player on the schedule. The genre can kick off on open real estate, generate a easy sell for marketing and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with crowds that turn out on preview nights and keep coming through the week two if the film delivers. In the wake of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 cadence reflects assurance in that dynamic. The slate starts with a thick January run, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a fall corridor that pushes into the Halloween frame and into early November. The gridline also shows the stronger partnership of indie distributors and streamers that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and scale up at the precise moment.

An added macro current is legacy care across ongoing universes and legacy franchises. The players are not just mounting another return. They are seeking to position brand continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a art treatment that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that connects a next entry to a original cycle. At the very same time, the creative teams behind the marquee originals are doubling down on practical craft, real effects and distinct locales. That convergence yields the 2026 slate a lively combination of comfort and freshness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount establishes early momentum with two prominent titles that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a throwback-friendly bent without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push fueled by franchise iconography, initial cast looks, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

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 back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will hunt wide buzz through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick switches to whatever drives horror talk that this contact form spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from useful reference the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is efficient, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man purchases an AI companion that becomes a deadly partner. The date slots it at the front of a heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to echo eerie street stunts and short-cut promos that interweaves intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a title drop to become an teaser payoff closer to the early tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as event films, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-October frame lets the studio to fill 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, on-set effects led treatment can feel deluxe on a moderate cost. Position this as a red-band summer horror surge that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio places two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is billing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and general audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build assets around environmental design, and practical creature work, elements that can boost format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in textural authenticity and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Digital strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal titles head to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a structure that elevates both launch urgency and sign-up spikes in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix acquired titles with global acquisitions and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library curation, using curated hubs, holiday hubs, and curated rows to extend momentum on the horror cume. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix originals and festival deals, timing horror entries toward the drop and positioning as event drops arrivals with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a staged of targeted theatrical exposure and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation swells.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 corridor with two label plays. 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 gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, recalibrated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to move out. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-first horror with four-quadrant hopes. 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 sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using mini theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Franchises versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate tips toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to brand each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is centering character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-inflected take from a ascendant talent. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the deal build is steady enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent comps frame the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that respected streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was sticky. In 2024, precision craft horror popped in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they rotate perspective and expand the canvas. 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 two-step approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, lets marketing to connect the chapters through character web and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The shop talk behind this year’s genre indicate a continued preference for practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that leans on creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft features before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta inflection that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. 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 headline IP. 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 serious, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May build the summer base. Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a peekaboo tease plan and limited information drops that stress concept over spoilers.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and holiday card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s algorithmic partner evolves into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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: 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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 unyielding boss scramble to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s physical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting story that teases the horror of a child’s inconsistent interpretations. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that pokes at modern genre fads and true crime fixations. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family entangled with past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-core horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBA. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: pending. Production: active. 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 era-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 More about the author Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces define this lineup. First, production that paused or rearranged in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on bite-size scare clips from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 sleeper chase 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 press those advantages. 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. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sonics, and visuals 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

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is franchise muscle where it helps, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the fear sell the seats.