Antediluvian Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, arriving Oct 2025 across top digital platforms

One unnerving mystic terror film from author / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an timeless fear when newcomers become proxies in a devilish experiment. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving episode of perseverance and ancient evil that will revolutionize fear-driven cinema this Halloween season. Directed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and tone-heavy feature follows five unacquainted souls who arise imprisoned in a remote hideaway under the oppressive influence of Kyra, a young woman possessed by a legendary scriptural evil. Ready yourself to be absorbed by a theatrical display that combines gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a historical foundation in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is challenged when the beings no longer manifest from external sources, but rather from their psyche. This illustrates the malevolent part of each of them. The result is a emotionally raw mental war where the tension becomes a intense battle between good and evil.


In a forsaken wild, five figures find themselves imprisoned under the dark sway and grasp of a unidentified woman. As the group becomes submissive to reject her grasp, severed and pursued by creatures ungraspable, they are driven to reckon with their raw vulnerabilities while the hours coldly ticks toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and ties implode, forcing each cast member to doubt their core and the structure of liberty itself. The intensity intensify with every passing moment, delivering a scare-fueled ride that harmonizes otherworldly panic with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to draw upon deep fear, an entity born of forgotten ages, working through emotional vulnerability, and exposing a will that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is clueless until the invasion happens, and that transformation is shocking because it is so deep.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that customers no matter where they are can survive this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its intro video, which has garnered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, bringing the film to scare fans abroad.


Witness this mind-warping fall into madness. Enter *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to explore these haunting secrets about the soul.


For cast commentary, special features, and promotions from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the year 2025 U.S. lineup weaves legend-infused possession, Indie Shockers, and Franchise Rumbles

From pressure-cooker survival tales steeped in scriptural legend and stretching into canon extensions paired with surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as the most complex in tandem with precision-timed year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio majors hold down the year with franchise anchors, simultaneously SVOD players saturate the fall with new voices alongside scriptural shivers. Meanwhile, festival-forward creators is fueled by the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are exacting, and 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are assertive. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s schedule kicks off the frame with a statement play: a contemporary Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a crisp modern milieu. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. timed for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. From director Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. Pictures delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: old school creep, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, thickens the animatronic pantheon, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a room scale body horror descent led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

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

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated 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, with Francis Lawrence directing, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The coming 2026 terror calendar year ahead: returning titles, non-franchise titles, plus A hectic Calendar Built For goosebumps

Dek: The brand-new horror slate crowds from day one with a January cluster, following that rolls through summer corridors, and carrying into the late-year period, marrying marquee clout, inventive spins, and shrewd counterweight. Studios and platforms are betting on efficient budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that pivot these offerings into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The field has proven to be the predictable lever in programming grids, a space that can lift when it clicks and still protect the floor when it under-delivers. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that cost-conscious chillers can galvanize the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The carry carried into 2025, where reboots and festival-grade titles showed there is demand for diverse approaches, from continued chapters to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a lineup that looks unusually coordinated across companies, with strategic blocks, a spread of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a renewed stance on release windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium on-demand and subscription services.

Buyers contend the space now behaves like a utility player on the distribution slate. Horror can bow on a wide range of weekends, offer a sharp concept for creative and UGC-friendly snippets, and overperform with moviegoers that come out on advance nights and maintain momentum through the next weekend if the offering works. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration reflects faith in that logic. The slate rolls out with a heavy January lineup, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a fall corridor that runs into All Hallows period and past Halloween. The program also highlights the increasing integration of specialty arms and OTT outlets that can build gradually, spark evangelism, and expand at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is legacy care across interlocking continuities and long-running brands. Studio teams are not just pushing another sequel. They are shaping as lineage with a heightened moment, whether that is a graphic identity that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a casting move that bridges a latest entry to a first wave. At the very same time, the directors behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing material texture, special makeup and distinct locales. That fusion delivers 2026 a vital pairing of trust and invention, which is what works overseas.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount sets the tone early with two headline releases that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a baton pass and a back-to-basics character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture announces a memory-charged treatment without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive leaning on signature symbols, character spotlights, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, 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 counterprogrammer, this one will pursue four-quadrant chatter through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format making room for quick pivots to whatever dominates horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is clean, tragic, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an machine companion that mutates into a murderous partner. The date slots it at the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to iterate on creepy live activations and micro spots that blurs love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an headline beat closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are presented as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The spooky-season slot lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, physical-effects centered approach can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that leans hard into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio mounts two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both core fans and newcomers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build materials around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in careful craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus’s team has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is glowing.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s genre entries move to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that optimizes both debut momentum and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with international acquisitions and small theatrical windows when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on overall cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about originals and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to launch and framing as events premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a laddered of targeted theatrical exposure and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 runway with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is tight: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a cinema-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has proved effective for arthouse horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception prompts. Do not be surprised by 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 kindle evangelism that fuels their community.

Series vs standalone

By proportion, 2026 leans toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness cultural cachet. The challenge, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is foregrounding character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a Francophone tone from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not hamper a dual release from winning when the brand was strong. In 2024, auteur craft horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they shift POV and raise the stakes. 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 two-step approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to cross-link entries through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries forecast a continued preference for material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates texture and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft features before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which lend themselves to convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. Universal’s 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 foggy reset amid marquee brands. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the tonal variety ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

February through May tee up summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late-season stretch leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a opaque tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that put concept first.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can win the holiday when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion turns into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 push to survive on a uninhabited island as the control balance reverses and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to fear, shaped by Cronin’s in-camera craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting chiller that mediates the fear via a preteen’s volatile perspective. Rating: TBA. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A spoof revival that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: to be announced. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a young family entangled with residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-first horror over action fireworks. Rating: not yet rated. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBA. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 raw menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces organize this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, Check This Out and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

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

The sleeper chase 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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, soundscape, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shudders sell the seats.