Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons age-old dread, a chilling chiller, debuting Oct 2025 on top digital platforms

One terrifying unearthly fright fest from storyteller / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic horror when foreigners become pawns in a fiendish conflict. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving saga of endurance and old world terror that will alter terror storytelling this spooky time. Created by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and tone-heavy suspense flick follows five unknowns who suddenly rise imprisoned in a off-grid wooden structure under the menacing command of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a legendary holy text monster. Prepare to be absorbed by a audio-visual outing that weaves together raw fear with mystical narratives, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a long-standing element in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is flipped when the dark entities no longer come from elsewhere, but rather from within. This represents the most terrifying shade of each of them. The result is a relentless psychological battle where the story becomes a unforgiving contest between light and darkness.


In a desolate terrain, five figures find themselves sealed under the unholy aura and inhabitation of a haunted person. As the protagonists becomes paralyzed to combat her curse, cut off and preyed upon by evils unimaginable, they are obligated to endure their deepest fears while the time brutally counts down toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread swells and bonds fracture, forcing each soul to scrutinize their personhood and the idea of self-determination itself. The intensity amplify with every minute, delivering a terror ride that integrates mystical fear with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to dive into elemental fright, an threat born of forgotten ages, working through soul-level flaws, and navigating a force that peels away humanity when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra was about accessing something unfamiliar to reason. She is ignorant until the demon emerges, and that change is gut-wrenching because it is so unshielded.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for horror fans beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing audiences globally can get immersed in this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has collected over strong viewer count.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, making the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Avoid skipping this gripping ride through nightmares. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to explore these terrifying truths about our species.


For teasers, director cuts, and reveals from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across online outlets and visit youngandcursed.com.





Horror’s sea change: the 2025 cycle stateside slate fuses old-world possession, underground frights, paired with IP aftershocks

Spanning pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by old testament echoes and including returning series together with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is emerging as the most variegated plus blueprinted year in the past ten years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. the big studios lock in tentpoles via recognizable brands, concurrently subscription platforms stack the fall with unboxed visions paired with scriptural shivers. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is surfing the backdraft of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween holding the peak, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, yet in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are exacting, hence 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium genre swings back

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s schedule opens the year with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Guided by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. set for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

At summer’s close, Warner’s slate rolls out the capstone from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a sealed box body horror arc including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

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

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

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

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The oncoming scare release year: brand plays, original films, alongside A packed Calendar Built For shocks

Dek: The current terror calendar crams early with a January crush, and then carries through summer, and straight through the holidays, balancing brand equity, untold stories, and savvy counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that elevate these pictures into national conversation.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has become the sturdy move in studio calendars, a segment that can grow when it clicks and still buffer the downside when it fails to connect. After 2023 reconfirmed for decision-makers that disciplined-budget fright engines can own social chatter, 2024 carried the beat with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam translated to the 2025 frame, where resurrections and critical darlings highlighted there is capacity for diverse approaches, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that play globally. The sum for 2026 is a schedule that is strikingly coherent across the market, with clear date clusters, a balance of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a revived focus on theatrical windows that drive downstream revenue on premium video on demand and streaming.

Planners observe the horror lane now serves as a schedule utility on the release plan. Horror can kick off on most weekends, provide a easy sell for teasers and TikTok spots, and outpace with moviegoers that lean in on early shows and stay strong through the next pass if the entry works. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup reflects faith in that engine. The calendar launches with a front-loaded January lineup, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while holding room for a October build that flows toward late October and into November. The program also features the continuing integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can launch in limited release, stoke social talk, and expand at the precise moment.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across shared IP webs and classic IP. The companies are not just turning out another return. They are moving to present lore continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a logo package that flags a refreshed voice or a star attachment that threads a next film to a initial period. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the high-profile originals are leaning into in-camera technique, practical effects and place-driven backdrops. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and novelty, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile titles that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a heritage-honoring campaign without repeating the last two entries’ sibling arc. A campaign is expected rooted in legacy iconography, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will stress. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will generate broad awareness through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format enabling quick pivots to whatever leads horror talk that spring.

Universal has three unique projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is clean, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man brings home an artificial companion that shifts into a harmful mate. The date slots it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s team likely to renew uncanny-valley stunts and short reels that mixes affection and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are set up as marquee events, with a concept-forward tease and a second beat that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween runway offers Universal room to take 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has long shown that a raw, practical-first treatment can feel elevated on a lean spend. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror shock that embraces global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio rolls out two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is calling a new foundation 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 clearer mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around narrative world, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror centered on obsessive craft and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is warm.

Platform lanes and windowing

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal titles shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that maximizes both launch urgency and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video will mix licensed titles with worldwide buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in archive usage, using seasonal hubs, Halloween hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays nimble about in-house releases and festival wins, finalizing horror entries closer to launch and making event-like launches with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a one-two of targeted theatrical exposure and fast windowing that monetizes buzz via trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown a willingness to acquire select projects with prestige directors or A-list packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award 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 meaningful lever for monthly engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 sequence with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is tight: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, recalibrated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas window to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception drives. Watch 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 subscriber base.

Franchises versus originals

By tilt, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap cultural cachet. The watch-out, as ever, is audience fatigue. The operating solution is to pitch each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a European tilt from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the team and cast is comforting enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years contextualize the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that held distribution windows did not block a parallel release from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in premium large format. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they shift POV and increase ambition. 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 shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character spine and themes and to leave creative active without dead zones.

Behind-the-camera trends

The filmmaking conversations behind 2026 horror signal a continued preference for real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that underscores grain and menace rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and medieval diction, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and drives shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature craft and set design, which favor expo activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that sing on PLF.

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 moody palate cleanser amid marquee brands. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the palette of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive 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 shuffled through big rooms.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-first teaser plan and limited plot reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s algorithmic partner unfolds into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unsettled 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 unyielding boss push to survive on a rugged island as the power balance of power tilts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting narrative that channels the fear through a child’s uncertain subjective lens. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-supported and celebrity-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that teases modern genre fads and true crime fervors. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. 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 ignites, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new clan entangled with residual nightmares. Rating: to be announced. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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-specific language and ancient menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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

Why the 2026 timing works

Three grounded forces drive this lineup. First, production that stalled or rearranged in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter schedules. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, curated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can command a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will share space across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can pounce weblink on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where lean-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 capitalize on those pockets. 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sound field, and picture 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 Looks Exciting

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand equity where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the screams sell the seats.