Age-old Dread stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked feature, rolling out October 2025 on top streamers

One frightening unearthly scare-fest from author / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primeval curse when strangers become victims in a cursed struggle. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of overcoming and primeval wickedness that will revamp the horror genre this scare season. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and eerie story follows five young adults who arise trapped in a wooded dwelling under the malevolent power of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a millennia-old ancient fiend. Prepare to be seized by a visual venture that unites intense horror with mystical narratives, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a recurring tradition in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is inverted when the spirits no longer manifest from elsewhere, but rather inside them. This illustrates the most primal side of the cast. The result is a edge-of-seat identity crisis where the suspense becomes a intense fight between purity and corruption.


In a forsaken terrain, five individuals find themselves confined under the dark effect and spiritual invasion of a shadowy female presence. As the group becomes helpless to fight her power, left alone and pursued by forces unnamable, they are thrust to battle their deepest fears while the seconds unceasingly runs out toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia surges and alliances crack, prompting each figure to evaluate their identity and the foundation of volition itself. The hazard amplify with every tick, delivering a cinematic nightmare that merges otherworldly suspense with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to tap into pure dread, an evil that existed before mankind, manipulating emotional fractures, and dealing with a presence that strips down our being when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra required summoning something more primal than sorrow. She is oblivious until the haunting manifests, and that change is gut-wrenching because it is so intimate.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be released for horror fans beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—allowing audiences internationally can be part of this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original clip, which has attracted over 100K plays.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, spreading the horror to scare fans abroad.


Experience this cinematic exploration of dread. Explore *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to experience these fearful discoveries about inner darkness.


For bonus footage, behind-the-scenes content, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across platforms and visit youngandcursed.com.





Current horror’s watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans stateside slate melds biblical-possession ideas, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside tentpole growls

From survivor-centric dread rooted in mythic scripture through to installment follow-ups together with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted in tandem with intentionally scheduled year in a decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios plant stakes across the year with known properties, even as premium streamers prime the fall with emerging auteurs alongside old-world menace. Across the art-house lane, horror’s indie wing is catching the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, notably this year, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are calculated, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Elevated fear reclaims ground

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a reimagined Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. landing in mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 follows. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: retrograde shiver, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The ante is higher this round, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a room scale body horror descent anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is destined for a fall landing.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No bloated canon. No franchise baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

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

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Series Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, led by 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.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Key Trends

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror returns
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The approaching Horror cycle: brand plays, universe starters, alongside A jammed Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek The arriving horror slate builds immediately with a January wave, thereafter spreads through the mid-year, and deep into the winter holidays, combining brand heft, creative pitches, and strategic counter-scheduling. Studio marketers and platforms are embracing cost discipline, theatrical exclusivity first, and social-driven marketing that frame genre titles into culture-wide discussion.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has emerged as the bankable option in programming grids, a pillar that can grow when it resonates and still protect the drawdown when it does not. After the 2023 year re-taught greenlighters that mid-range shockers can own the zeitgeist, the following year carried the beat with visionary-driven titles and under-the-radar smashes. The energy moved into the 2025 frame, where revivals and premium-leaning entries demonstrated there is an opening for several lanes, from series extensions to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The combined impact for 2026 is a schedule that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with purposeful groupings, a mix of household franchises and new concepts, and a re-energized focus on exclusive windows that power the aftermarket on PVOD and SVOD.

Schedulers say the space now operates like a flex slot on the release plan. Horror can open on most weekends, generate a clear pitch for teasers and reels, and punch above weight with crowds that arrive on early shows and return through the next weekend if the feature satisfies. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 configuration demonstrates belief in that setup. The year launches with a busy January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for balance, while making space for a September to October window that runs into late October and afterwards. The program also highlights the greater integration of specialized labels and subscription services that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and grow at the timely point.

A second macro trend is IP cultivation across brand ecosystems and classic IP. The studios are not just pushing another next film. They are working to present brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a new tone or a cast configuration that binds a incoming chapter to a initial period. At the alongside this, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into on-set craft, on-set effects and distinct locales. That fusion produces 2026 a solid mix of recognition and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate projects that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the center, framing it as both a relay and a heritage-centered character-centered film. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a throwback-friendly treatment without replaying the last two entries’ sisters thread. Watch for a push rooted in classic imagery, character previews, and a tiered teaser plan 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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever dominates the conversation that spring.

Universal has three discrete entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man activates an AI companion that turns into a perilous partner. The date slots it at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s promo team likely to iterate on uncanny-valley stunts and short reels that melds attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are branded as must-see filmmaker statements, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has established that a visceral, makeup-driven method can feel premium on a middle budget. Position this as a red-band summer horror hit that centers worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is marketing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around world-building, and creature design, elements that can boost large-format demand and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by historical precision and textual fidelity, this time orbiting lycan myth. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform windowing in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s genre entries land on copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that amplifies both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances licensed content with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, fright rows, and featured rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about own-slate titles and festival additions, slotting horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops releases with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a one-two of selective theatrical runs and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a per-project basis. The platform has signaled readiness to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before his comment is here the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 track with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is straightforward: 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 autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has delivered for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception prompts. Anticipate 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 as a pair, using targeted theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

IP versus fresh ideas

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to frame each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is underscoring character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a fresh helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years frame the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not block a parallel release from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror popped in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reframe POV and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds 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, gives leeway to marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to keep assets alive without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate telegraph a continued emphasis on physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that centers mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and drives shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-aware reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which align with convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is busy. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the tonal variety creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now sustains Check This Out big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s synthetic partner mutates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 work to survive on a rugged island as the pecking order swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 contemporary retelling that returns the monster to horror, rooted in Cronin’s in-camera craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting chiller that leverages the fear of a child’s fragile POV. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in the can. Positioning: major-studio and marquee-led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that riffs on of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fervors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 ignites, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: pending. Production: underway. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three practical forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate clippable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer 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 cadence and diversity. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, acoustics, and cinematography 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is recognizable IP where it plays, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, guard the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.