Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes primeval malevolence, a hair raising chiller, launching October 2025 across top streaming platforms

A frightening otherworldly shockfest from literary architect / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an ancient terror when newcomers become pawns in a hellish maze. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping depiction of resilience and forgotten curse that will revolutionize fear-driven cinema this autumn. Helmed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and claustrophobic suspense flick follows five figures who emerge trapped in a isolated cottage under the dark power of Kyra, a haunted figure inhabited by a timeless scriptural evil. Brace yourself to be drawn in by a visual experience that merges primitive horror with folklore, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a mainstay element in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is flipped when the entities no longer arise externally, but rather inside them. This portrays the shadowy element of the cast. The result is a psychologically brutal mental war where the conflict becomes a brutal contest between good and evil.


In a barren wild, five individuals find themselves caught under the fiendish dominion and possession of a mysterious woman. As the group becomes powerless to escape her manipulation, isolated and targeted by powers unimaginable, they are pushed to acknowledge their core terrors while the seconds brutally edges forward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia grows and friendships shatter, demanding each person to scrutinize their identity and the idea of volition itself. The risk climb with every instant, delivering a frightening tale that combines supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to explore elemental fright, an spirit from ancient eras, channeling itself through emotional fractures, and testing a curse that threatens selfhood when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra demanded embodying something beyond human emotion. She is in denial until the control shifts, and that turn is deeply unsettling because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—making sure users worldwide can witness this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its first preview, which has received over a viral response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, delivering the story to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this visceral descent into darkness. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to dive into these ghostly lessons about mankind.


For exclusive trailers, director cuts, and reveals from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit youngandcursed.com.





U.S. horror’s sea change: 2025 for genre fans U.S. lineup fuses archetypal-possession themes, festival-born jolts, paired with Franchise Rumbles

Spanning survivor-centric dread infused with legendary theology and including canon extensions in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become horror’s most layered combined with strategic year for the modern era.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles with known properties, in parallel platform operators prime the fall with discovery plays set against ancient terrors. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, thus 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal banner starts the year with a headline swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Booked into mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner’s slate launches the swan song from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re boards, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retro dread, trauma in the foreground, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, courting teens and the thirty something base. It lands in December, buttoning the final window.

SVOD Originals: No Budget, No Problem

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a forensic chill anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by 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 menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are more runway than museum.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. 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, with Francis Lawrence directing, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trend Lines

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror swings back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forward View: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift 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.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The upcoming fright slate: next chapters, fresh concepts, plus A packed Calendar aimed at screams

Dek: The new genre season loads in short order with a January wave, after that rolls through the summer months, and pushing into the year-end corridor, braiding series momentum, original angles, and well-timed counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are relying on lean spends, theatrical exclusivity first, and influencer-ready assets that shape genre releases into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has become the predictable option in studio slates, a space that can spike when it breaks through and still cushion the exposure when it falls short. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for leaders that lean-budget shockers can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The energy rolled into 2025, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers signaled there is space for a spectrum, from series extensions to original one-offs that carry overseas. The upshot for 2026 is a roster that reads highly synchronized across the field, with obvious clusters, a blend of established brands and new concepts, and a tightened focus on cinema windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on paid VOD and digital services.

Buyers contend the genre now acts as a fill-in ace on the grid. The genre can launch on most weekends, deliver a quick sell for teasers and platform-native cuts, and outperform with crowds that appear on early shows and continue through the second weekend if the feature lands. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout shows belief in that model. The slate begins with a front-loaded January band, then exploits spring through early summer for audience offsets, while leaving room for a autumn push that connects to Halloween and past Halloween. The calendar also underscores the deeper integration of boutique distributors and subscription services that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and widen at the right moment.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across linked properties and classic IP. Distribution groups are not just releasing another next film. They are seeking to position connection with a heightened moment, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a lead change that connects a latest entry to a classic era. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the most anticipated originals are prioritizing real-world builds, in-camera effects and site-specific worlds. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a robust balance of assurance and invention, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two marquee bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a passing of the torch and a classic-mode character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the narrative stance suggests a heritage-honoring approach without covering again the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave built on franchise iconography, initial cast looks, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will feature. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will hunt mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever rules horror talk that spring.

Universal has three unique strategies. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that turns into a dangerous lover. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to renew odd public stunts and short-cut promos that threads romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an attention spike closer to the initial promo. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are marketed as director events, with a hinting teaser and a subsequent trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, prosthetic-heavy style can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror blast that emphasizes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, sustaining a evergreen supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is billing as a reset 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 clearer mandate to serve both loyalists and general audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build marketing units around mythos, and monster aesthetics, elements that can increase IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on minute detail and dialect, this time exploring werewolf lore. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is strong.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. The Universal horror run feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a sequence that enhances both initial urgency and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with international acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data backs it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library pulls, using featured rows, seasonal hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about in-house releases and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries tight to release and making event-like launches with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of selective theatrical runs and short jumps to platform that turns chatter to conversion. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has proven amenable to invest in select projects with acclaimed directors or marquee packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for sustained usage when the genre conversation surges.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 runway with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, elevated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a theatrical-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-first horror with audience crossover. 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 fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception merits. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By volume, 2026 leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is viewer burnout. The workable fix is to frame each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is foregrounding relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the bundle is familiar enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent-year comps announce the method. In 2023, a theater-first model that maintained windows did not preclude a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to connect the chapters through character arcs and themes and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

How the films are being made

The director conversations behind the year’s horror telegraph a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that elevates creep and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead features and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that leans on mood over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature work and production design, which are ideal for convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel necessary. Look for trailers that foreground surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

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 quiet contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the variety of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s AI companion turns into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. 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 tough boss battle to survive on a rugged island as the power balance turns and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, rooted in Cronin’s tactile craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 domestic haunting tale that channels the fear through a kid’s shifting personal vantage. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fully shot. Positioning: major-studio and celebrity-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that lampoons contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new household anchored to past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on true survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 elemental fear. Rating: TBD. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why this year, why now

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and condensed timelines. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming placements. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can pounce on 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where midrange-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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc 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 pace and range. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, audio design, and imagery 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 this website the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.