Mythic Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across major platforms

An spine-tingling otherworldly scare-fest from narrative craftsman / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an long-buried nightmare when newcomers become tokens in a cursed struggle. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking narrative of staying alive and primordial malevolence that will reshape terror storytelling this harvest season. Produced by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and atmospheric feature follows five teens who come to ensnared in a isolated house under the aggressive command of Kyra, a cursed figure haunted by a prehistoric scriptural evil. Get ready to be immersed by a filmic experience that unites bone-deep fear with folklore, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a classic narrative in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is inverted when the demons no longer emerge from elsewhere, but rather from deep inside. This echoes the haunting layer of the protagonists. The result is a intense spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a unyielding face-off between righteousness and malevolence.


In a bleak natural abyss, five souls find themselves caught under the possessive force and control of a unknown spirit. As the protagonists becomes helpless to evade her command, detached and tormented by unknowns indescribable, they are compelled to confront their darkest emotions while the hours unforgivingly draws closer toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion swells and partnerships implode, urging each person to rethink their core and the notion of free will itself. The danger surge with every beat, delivering a nightmarish journey that connects paranormal dread with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to channel elemental fright, an curse older than civilization itself, manifesting in human fragility, and testing a power that threatens selfhood when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra asked for exploring something more primal than sorrow. She is blind until the takeover begins, and that transformation is terrifying because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—allowing audiences everywhere can watch this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has collected over massive response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, giving access to the movie to scare fans abroad.


Don’t miss this mind-warping path of possession. Watch *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these evil-rooted truths about our species.


For sneak peeks, set experiences, and promotions straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across media channels and visit the film’s website.





Horror’s tipping point: calendar year 2025 stateside slate fuses ancient-possession motifs, art-house nightmares, paired with Franchise Rumbles

Running from last-stand terror saturated with legendary theology and onward to installment follow-ups together with acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become the most textured as well as strategic year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios are anchoring the year via recognizable brands, in tandem platform operators front-load the fall with emerging auteurs paired with ancient terrors. In the indie lane, independent banners is surfing the carry from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are methodical, hence 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal lights the fuse with an audacious swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Led by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. dated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate rolls out the capstone of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re boards, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. This time, the stakes are raised, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, broadens the animatronic terror cast, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It lands in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a tight space body horror vignette with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga featuring Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. That is a savvy move. No heavy handed lore. No sequel clutter. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent 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. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, from Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trend Lines

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn density and winter pivot

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

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



The next genre cycle: continuations, non-franchise titles, together with A packed Calendar tailored for chills

Dek The arriving horror cycle builds at the outset with a January logjam, subsequently flows through the summer months, and carrying into the festive period, weaving franchise firepower, original angles, and strategic offsets. Studios with streamers are prioritizing responsible budgets, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that convert horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

How the genre looks for 2026

Horror has shown itself to be the predictable move in distribution calendars, a pillar that can surge when it clicks and still buffer the losses when it does not. After 2023 signaled to leaders that responsibly budgeted scare machines can drive the discourse, 2024 kept energy high with signature-voice projects and unexpected risers. The head of steam pushed into the 2025 frame, where returns and filmmaker-prestige bets proved there is appetite for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to director-led originals that travel well. The sum for the 2026 slate is a programming that appears tightly organized across the major shops, with planned clusters, a balance of legacy names and untested plays, and a renewed attention on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and streaming.

Planners observe the space now serves as a versatile piece on the slate. Horror can arrive on a wide range of weekends, create a simple premise for teasers and UGC-friendly snippets, and over-index with moviegoers that respond on Thursday previews and continue through the next weekend if the film lands. On the heels of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup exhibits assurance in that dynamic. The calendar opens with a loaded January block, then targets spring into early summer for balance, while reserving space for a September to October window that reaches into All Hallows period and into November. The grid also features the expanded integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and broaden at the precise moment.

A companion trend is franchise tending across unified worlds and classic IP. Distribution groups are not just making another continuation. They are trying to present lineage with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that suggests a re-angled tone or a lead change that links a upcoming film to a classic era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring practical craft, practical gags and distinct locales. That convergence produces 2026 a solid mix of known notes and invention, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount defines the early cadence with two high-profile bets that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the heart, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach hints at a fan-service aware bent without rehashing the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push centered on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue wide buzz through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever leads trend lines that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an algorithmic mate that mutates into a lethal partner. The date sets it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the Universal machine likely to revisit uncanny live moments and brief clips that melds intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, news the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under development 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 permits a title reveal to become an PR pop closer to the early tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. His entries are set up as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-October frame gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, prosthetic-heavy style can feel prestige on a tight budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror surge that maximizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, keeping a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is describing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both longtime followers and newcomers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around setting detail, and creature effects, elements that can lift premium booking interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by rigorous craft and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus Features has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is robust.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a stair-step that enhances both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the downstream. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with cross-border buys and limited runs in theaters when the data signals it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, securing horror entries on shorter runways and elevating as drops premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of tailored theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 slate with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, modernized for modern audio-visual craft. 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 indicated a cinema-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to expand. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-first horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception merits. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Known brands versus new stories

By number, the 2026 slate bends toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on fan equity. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French sensibility from a hot helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the deal build is grounded enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years clarify the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that honored streaming windows did not stop a day-date try from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror exceeded expectations in premium formats. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, lets marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The creative meetings behind 2026 horror indicate a continued shift toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that highlights grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that leans on mood over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and produces shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta pivot that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster work and world-building, which work nicely for expo activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel key. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that work in PLF.

How the year maps out

January is crowded. 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 brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the tone spread creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth holds.

Q1 into Q2 stage summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that put concept first.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. 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 machine mate shifts into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: tone-first 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 abrasive boss try to survive on a rugged island as the power balance shifts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

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 contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to dread, based on Cronin’s material craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. 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 in-home haunting setup that leverages the panic of a child’s inconsistent impressions. Rating: TBA. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-built and headline-actor led paranormal 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 parody reboot that needles contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 global twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new clan bound to lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A fresh restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. 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 period-precise speech and elemental menace. Rating: TBD. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three execution-level forces organize this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate meme-ready beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, freeing space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will stack across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where low-to-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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, lean footprints, 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 surface detail, sound field, 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.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is franchise muscle where it helps, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.