Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A frightening otherworldly suspense film from literary architect / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an age-old entity when unknowns become conduits in a supernatural game. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish narrative of living through and age-old darkness that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this season. Helmed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie tale follows five lost souls who are stirred locked in a unreachable structure under the hostile power of Kyra, a tormented girl inhabited by a biblical-era biblical force. Get ready to be gripped by a cinematic adventure that harmonizes instinctive fear with biblical origins, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a mainstay narrative in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the spirits no longer emerge outside their bodies, but rather through their own souls. This marks the grimmest shade of the cast. The result is a relentless mind game where the emotions becomes a unforgiving fight between moral forces.


In a isolated forest, five individuals find themselves isolated under the ghastly effect and possession of a mysterious entity. As the ensemble becomes powerless to combat her rule, stranded and targeted by creatures unnamable, they are forced to face their greatest panics while the seconds unforgivingly draws closer toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension swells and teams splinter, driving each figure to reconsider their identity and the idea of free will itself. The consequences intensify with every fleeting time, delivering a paranormal ride that intertwines demonic fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to tap into pure dread, an curse rooted in antiquity, emerging via our fears, and testing a force that questions who we are when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra demanded embodying something far beyond human desperation. She is unaware until the haunting manifests, and that transition is shocking because it is so private.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing viewers from coast to coast can face this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has seen over six-figure audience.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, bringing the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Don’t miss this bone-rattling path of possession. Confront *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to survive these spiritual awakenings about the soul.


For film updates, making-of footage, and news from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across media channels and visit the official digital haunt.





The horror genre’s sea change: 2025 for genre fans U.S. Slate braids together ancient-possession motifs, microbudget gut-punches, and returning-series thunder

Ranging from endurance-driven terror inspired by primordial scripture all the way to installment follow-ups and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is coalescing into the most stratified together with intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios lock in tentpoles via recognizable brands, simultaneously platform operators flood the fall with new voices paired with mythic dread. On another front, the artisan tier is catching the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, therefore 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp sets the tone with a big gambit: a refreshed Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Booked into mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Led by Eli Craig including 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 circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer winds down, Warner’s pipeline drops the final chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma centered writing, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, courting teens and the thirty something base. It books December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Firsts: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 is an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror reemerges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

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 trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next fright release year: installments, original films, alongside A busy Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek The arriving horror cycle crams from day one with a January wave, thereafter rolls through summer, and straight through the holiday frame, balancing brand heft, new concepts, and shrewd offsets. Studios and streamers are committing to lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that turn genre titles into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The field has solidified as the surest move in programming grids, a corner that can surge when it breaks through and still insulate the exposure when it falls short. After 2023 reassured greenlighters that responsibly budgeted pictures can lead cultural conversation, 2024 extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The trend flowed into 2025, where re-entries and festival-grade titles proved there is capacity for diverse approaches, from sequel tracks to director-led originals that resonate abroad. The result for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across studios, with intentional bunching, a combination of recognizable IP and untested plays, and a reinvigorated emphasis on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on paid VOD and platforms.

Executives say the space now behaves like a wildcard on the release plan. Horror can open on virtually any date, furnish a grabby hook for previews and vertical videos, and exceed norms with audiences that lean in on advance nights and keep coming through the follow-up frame if the feature lands. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 rhythm reflects faith in that setup. The slate rolls out with a heavy January block, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while keeping space for a September to October window that flows toward the Halloween corridor and into November. The arrangement also illustrates the ongoing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can stage a platform run, spark evangelism, and broaden at the right moment.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across interlocking continuities and classic IP. The companies are not just producing another chapter. They are working to present story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a title design that signals a tonal shift or a casting move that threads a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the same time, the creative teams behind the most buzzed-about originals are favoring on-set craft, makeup and prosthetics and place-driven backdrops. That alloy provides the 2026 slate a strong blend of recognition and shock, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two high-profile releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach signals a memory-charged angle without recycling the last two entries’ sisters thread. Plan for a rollout centered on heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will pursue mainstream recognition through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick reframes to whatever owns trend lines that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is crisp, tragic, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an digital partner that unfolds into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to bring back odd public stunts and bite-size content that blurs companionship and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles 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 proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as signature events, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The spooky-season slot opens a lane to dominate 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has shown that a gritty, practical-first approach can feel prestige on a tight budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror jolt that emphasizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio rolls out two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, preserving a consistent supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is selling as a ground-zero restart 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 focus to serve both fans and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can drive deluxe auditorium demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on meticulous craft and archaic language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus Features has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is positive.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s releases window into copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ordering that expands both FOMO and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video will mix licensed content with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library pulls, using well-timed internal promotions, Halloween hubs, and featured rows to prolong the run on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix films and festival deals, slotting horror entries near launch and eventizing rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a laddered of precision releases and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with award winners or marquee packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 arc 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 pitch is clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, refined for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a standard theatrical run for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the December frame to broaden. That positioning has been successful for elevated genre with four-quadrant hopes. 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 solid projection is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception allows. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using select theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By share, 2026 leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on cultural cachet. The challenge, as ever, is brand erosion. The preferred tactic have a peek here is to present each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is emphasizing core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and visionary-led titles add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the bundle is grounded enough to build pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps frame the approach. In 2023, a cinema-first model that maintained windows did not deter a day-date try from performing when the brand was robust. In 2024, art-forward horror surged in PLF. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they alter lens and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, allows marketing to thread films through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without dead zones.

Craft and creative trends

The creative meetings behind these films signal a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that spotlights texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and earns shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta recalibration that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster aesthetics and world-building, which fit with convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is stacked. 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 somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited plot reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s machine mate grows into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: gothic-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 hard-edged boss work to survive on a cut-off island as the control dynamic shifts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

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 contemporary retelling that returns the monster to nightmare, shaped by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting narrative that threads the dread through a young child’s wavering subjective lens. Rating: to be announced. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-scale and name-above-title ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 spreads, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a fresh family tethered to older hauntings. Rating: forthcoming. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survivalist horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: forthcoming. Production: underway. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three operational forces shape this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, managed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

The slot calculus is real. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will line up across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first quiet 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. Anticipate a robust 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 shadowed, 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 warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, right-sized allotments, 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 grain, sound field, and image-making 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 Robust 2026 On Deck

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand heft where it matters, filmmaker vision 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.