Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts ancient terror, a hair raising horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

An hair-raising occult suspense story from scriptwriter / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an long-buried curse when newcomers become tokens in a diabolical ordeal. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing chronicle of overcoming and archaic horror that will resculpt horror this fall. Crafted by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and gothic motion picture follows five strangers who suddenly rise trapped in a hidden wooden structure under the dark dominion of Kyra, a haunted figure inhabited by a ancient sacrosanct terror. Get ready to be drawn in by a filmic event that intertwines soul-chilling terror with mythic lore, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a recurring narrative in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is challenged when the spirits no longer appear from beyond, but rather within themselves. This marks the most hidden part of each of them. The result is a harrowing identity crisis where the intensity becomes a merciless clash between divinity and wickedness.


In a unforgiving wild, five youths find themselves imprisoned under the evil presence and grasp of a uncanny apparition. As the survivors becomes vulnerable to fight her manipulation, left alone and attacked by spirits unimaginable, they are cornered to reckon with their darkest emotions while the hours without pause strikes toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust deepens and partnerships implode, pushing each survivor to reconsider their existence and the structure of conscious will itself. The cost accelerate with every beat, delivering a frightening tale that combines ghostly evil with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to uncover raw dread, an entity from ancient eras, influencing emotional vulnerability, and examining a darkness that erodes the self when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra needed manifesting something darker than pain. She is in denial until the invasion happens, and that transformation is eerie because it is so unshielded.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—allowing fans everywhere can enjoy this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original promo, which has received over 100K plays.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, extending the thrill to global fright lovers.


Don’t miss this bone-rattling descent into darkness. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to witness these fearful discoveries about the human condition.


For previews, filmmaker commentary, and news from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across social media and visit the movie portal.





The horror genre’s decisive shift: calendar year 2025 American release plan blends Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, set against returning-series thunder

Spanning endurance-driven terror rooted in old testament echoes and including installment follow-ups alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the genre’s most multifaceted along with carefully orchestrated year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio powerhouses lay down anchors with known properties, in tandem SVOD players flood the fall with new perspectives together with legend-coded dread. In the indie lane, festival-forward creators is catching the uplift of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween holding the peak, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, notably this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline begins the calendar with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, inside today’s landscape. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. set for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even with a familiar chassis, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The follow up digs further into canon, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Tight funds, wide impact

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

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a close quarters body horror study starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. 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. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

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

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

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. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror returns
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Projection: Fall stack and winter swing card

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming fright slate: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, alongside A packed Calendar tailored for shocks

Dek: The incoming scare slate loads from the jump with a January wave, after that carries through summer corridors, and deep into the festive period, braiding marquee clout, creative pitches, and data-minded counterprogramming. Studios and platforms are embracing tight budgets, cinema-first plans, and influencer-ready assets that pivot the slate’s entries into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The horror sector has shown itself to be the surest play in studio calendars, a segment that can accelerate when it breaks through and still protect the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year showed strategy teams that efficiently budgeted fright engines can lead the zeitgeist, the following year held pace with director-led heat and quiet over-performers. The trend flowed into 2025, where resurrections and festival-grade titles underscored there is an opening for different modes, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that perform internationally. The end result for 2026 is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across the field, with defined corridors, a equilibrium of brand names and novel angles, and a revived commitment on big-screen windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and SVOD.

Schedulers say the space now functions as a swing piece on the release plan. Horror can kick off on open real estate, generate a grabby hook for teasers and reels, and overperform with patrons that come out on Thursday previews and sustain through the week two if the movie pays off. Post a production delay era, the 2026 configuration signals trust in that approach. The calendar opens with a busy January band, then turns to spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that extends to All Hallows period and into November. The layout also spotlights the deeper integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can develop over weeks, build word of mouth, and roll out at the proper time.

Another broad trend is IP cultivation across linked properties and long-running brands. Studios are not just rolling another installment. They are trying to present threaded continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that suggests a reframed mood or a casting pivot that binds a fresh chapter to a first wave. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the most watched originals are prioritizing real-world builds, practical effects and place-driven backdrops. That alloy provides the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and freshness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the focus, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a origin-leaning character-centered film. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a legacy-leaning framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected rooted in iconic art, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical 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 reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will pursue mainstream recognition through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, tragic, and commercial: a grieving man purchases an virtual partner that becomes a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to renew eerie street stunts and snackable content that fuses attachment and fear.

On May Source 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a official title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are framed as marquee events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has proven that a tactile, hands-on effects aesthetic can feel cinematic on a disciplined budget. Look for a splatter summer horror shock that maximizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is selling as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can fuel premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and linguistic texture, this time exploring werewolf lore. The specialty arm has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The studio’s horror films window into copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a stair-step that fortifies both opening-weekend urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with world buys and limited runs in theaters when the data backs it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in archive usage, using well-timed internal promotions, genre hubs, and programmed rows to lengthen the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps options open about own-slate titles and festival wins, timing horror entries toward the drop and making event-like premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a curated basis. The platform has signaled readiness to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation builds.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 corridor with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is straightforward: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has proved effective for auteur horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception merits. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using limited theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchises versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate favors the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on household recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a European tilt from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects 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 survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the bundle is steady enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Past-three-year patterns contextualize the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that honored streaming windows did not stop a day-date try from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror surged in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, allows marketing to thread films through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The shop talk behind the year’s horror foreshadow a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores tone and tension rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and technical spotlights before rolling out a tease that leans on mood over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will live or die on monster aesthetics and world-building, which favor convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel irresistible. Look for trailers that highlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that land in big rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is loaded. 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 brooding contrast amid headline IP. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the palette of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth holds.

Late Q1 and spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card burn.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s AI companion becomes something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: atmospheric 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 severe boss try to survive on a remote island as the chain of command upends and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting premise that frames the panic through a youngster’s volatile perspective. Rating: TBA. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A send-up revival that targets hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 erupts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new family tethered to old terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. 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: TBD. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 antique diction and elemental dread. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces define this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and tighter schedules. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming placements. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will trade weekends across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, 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 tactility, soundscape, 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.

2026, Ready To Roar

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.