Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on premium platforms

This haunting supernatural suspense story from creator / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an age-old force when unknowns become conduits in a satanic ritual. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing tale of perseverance and primordial malevolence that will reconstruct horror this scare season. Directed by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and gothic thriller follows five strangers who find themselves locked in a wooded house under the ominous rule of Kyra, a possessed female consumed by a ancient sacred-era entity. Brace yourself to be seized by a narrative spectacle that fuses raw fear with mystical narratives, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a recurring foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is twisted when the fiends no longer form externally, but rather through their own souls. This portrays the grimmest facet of the protagonists. The result is a harrowing mental war where the intensity becomes a merciless battle between virtue and vice.


In a haunting outland, five young people find themselves confined under the dark rule and curse of a elusive spirit. As the survivors becomes unable to combat her manipulation, severed and stalked by entities indescribable, they are made to encounter their greatest panics while the seconds unceasingly winds toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion builds and teams dissolve, requiring each character to contemplate their character and the structure of personal agency itself. The intensity amplify with every beat, delivering a nightmarish journey that marries paranormal dread with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to tap into raw dread, an malevolence older than civilization itself, emerging via psychological breaks, and wrestling with a curse that threatens selfhood when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra was about accessing something outside normal anguish. She is ignorant until the curse activates, and that transformation is deeply unsettling because it is so emotional.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for home viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing viewers internationally can dive into this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its intro video, which has earned over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, giving access to the movie to viewers around the world.


Tune in for this unforgettable path of possession. Join *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to experience these unholy truths about existence.


For behind-the-scenes access, filmmaker commentary, and reveals directly from production, follow @YACMovie across entertainment pages and visit the official website.





Today’s horror inflection point: the 2025 cycle U.S. calendar melds old-world possession, microbudget gut-punches, plus franchise surges

Spanning grit-forward survival fare suffused with near-Eastern lore and extending to series comebacks plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned in tandem with strategic year in a decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. studio majors hold down the year with known properties, concurrently streamers pack the fall with discovery plays alongside legend-coded dread. At the same time, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is drafting behind the tailwinds from a record 2024 festival run. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, but this year, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, thus 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in an immediate now. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. dated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer eases, Warner’s slate unveils the final movement from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, broadens the animatronic terror cast, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a tight space body horror vignette fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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. That is a savvy move. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

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

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Fall crush plus winter X factor

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. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The next fright release year: continuations, Originals, alongside A Crowded Calendar designed for Scares

Dek: The current horror calendar stacks early with a January crush, and then runs through June and July, and far into the holiday frame, balancing legacy muscle, creative pitches, and well-timed counterweight. Studio marketers and platforms are leaning into tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that pivot horror entries into national conversation.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has become the predictable tool in studio calendars, a space that can spike when it catches and still cushion the floor when it underperforms. After the 2023 year signaled to strategy teams that efficiently budgeted pictures can galvanize the national conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with director-led heat and quiet over-performers. The carry moved into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and critical darlings showed there is an opening for diverse approaches, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that carry overseas. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the major shops, with obvious clusters, a combination of marquee IP and untested plays, and a revived stance on exclusive windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital rental and home streaming.

Buyers contend the category now performs as a utility player on the calendar. The genre can roll out on nearly any frame, generate a sharp concept for promo reels and short-form placements, and over-index with audiences that respond on first-look nights and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the title connects. Exiting a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 layout shows comfort in that engine. The slate commences with a stacked January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while leaving room for a autumn push that runs into the fright window and into early November. The layout also reflects the increasing integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can platform a title, generate chatter, and go nationwide at the right moment.

A further high-level trend is series management across shared universes and heritage properties. The companies are not just producing another entry. They are moving to present ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a title design that suggests a recalibrated tone or a casting pivot that links a new entry to a vintage era. At the meanwhile, the auteurs behind the eagerly awaited originals are prioritizing hands-on technique, practical effects and distinct locales. That convergence delivers the 2026 slate a solid mix of comfort and newness, which is what works overseas.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, positioning the film as both a cross-generational handoff and a DNA-forward character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a memory-charged treatment without covering again the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive stacked with recognizable motifs, character previews, and a promo sequence slated for late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will double down on. As a summer contrast play, this one will hunt general-audience talk through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick switches to whatever defines the conversation that spring.

Universal has three distinct projects. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tidy, loss-driven, and logline-clear: a grieving man sets up an synthetic partner that grows into a dangerous lover. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back creepy live activations and quick hits that hybridizes longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele titles are sold as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has shown that a gnarly, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel big on a controlled budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror hit that emphasizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio rolls out two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a steady supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is calling a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both longtime followers and casuals. The fall slot provides the studio time to build artifacts around universe detail, and creature design, elements that can drive deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror built on careful craft and archaic language, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus’s team has already set the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform windowing in 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries feed copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both launch urgency and subscriber lifts in the after-window. Prime Video balances licensed films with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library engagement, using in-app campaigns, horror hubs, and collection rows to increase tail value on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps optionality about in-house releases and festival grabs, locking in horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a paired of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to buy select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is no-nonsense: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, upgraded for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has suggested a traditional cinema play for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to broaden. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception warrants. Anticipate 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 parallel, using targeted theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchise entries versus originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit brand equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is audience fatigue. The operating solution is to market each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the packaging is known enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Recent comps illuminate the method. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not hamper a hybrid test from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, director-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they pivot perspective and grow scope. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, provides the means for marketing to interlace chapters through character and theme and to keep assets alive without long breaks.

Technique and craft currents

The production chatter behind these films forecast a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights creep and texture rather than check over here thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead press and technical spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that withholds plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and drives shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta refresh that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature design and production design, which lend themselves to expo activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that emphasize pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in big rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid heavier IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the palette of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Early-year through spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil follows September 18, a early fall window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited pre-release reveals that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s digital partner turns into something lethally affectionate. 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 prickly boss fight to survive on a lonely island as the control dynamic upends and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to horror, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Young & Cursed Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting premise that frames the panic through a little one’s wavering internal vantage. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A spoof revival that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 flares, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a young family anchored to old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on true survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBA. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBD. Production: proceeding. 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 historical diction and elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: movies The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why this year, why now

Three hands-on forces shape this lineup. First, production that slowed or reshuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage clippable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, 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 spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the shudders sell the seats.