Age-old Evil Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 on premium platforms

This bone-chilling metaphysical terror film from literary architect / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primordial evil when drifters become victims in a cursed trial. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful account of endurance and primordial malevolence that will redefine terror storytelling this season. Visualized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and atmospheric screenplay follows five lost souls who find themselves sealed in a isolated cabin under the unfriendly grip of Kyra, a female lead claimed by a biblical-era biblical force. Prepare to be absorbed by a audio-visual experience that merges primitive horror with folklore, landing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a time-honored pillar in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is challenged when the forces no longer form outside their bodies, but rather deep within. This represents the most primal dimension of the cast. The result is a edge-of-seat mental war where the story becomes a brutal confrontation between moral forces.


In a wilderness-stricken woodland, five characters find themselves cornered under the ghastly sway and spiritual invasion of a enigmatic person. As the victims becomes powerless to fight her command, cut off and attacked by forces unnamable, they are thrust to face their raw vulnerabilities while the moments without pause moves toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion escalates and links erode, driving each participant to reflect on their values and the idea of free will itself. The danger rise with every second, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that intertwines paranormal dread with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to uncover basic terror, an presence older than civilization itself, working through emotional fractures, and testing a darkness that dismantles free will when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra called for internalizing something outside normal anguish. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that evolution is soul-crushing because it is so private.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure viewers no matter where they are can experience this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has pulled in over massive response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, spreading the horror to thrill-seekers globally.


Make sure to see this life-altering trip into the unknown. Explore *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to explore these chilling revelations about human nature.


For exclusive trailers, production news, and reveals directly from production, follow @YACMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s tipping point: the 2025 season stateside slate melds ancient-possession motifs, indie terrors, paired with returning-series thunder

Kicking off with fight-to-live nightmare stories drawn from primordial scripture through to returning series plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most variegated plus deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. major banners lock in tentpoles with franchise anchors, as streamers crowd the fall with fresh voices together with scriptural shivers. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is propelled by the backdraft of 2024’s record festival wave. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s slate starts the year with a confident swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. With Leigh Whannell at the helm with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. arriving mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer wanes, the WB camp delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: throwback unease, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. Here the stakes rise, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It books December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Tight funds, wide impact

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside 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.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No swollen lore. No canon weight. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than 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 piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Franchise Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

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

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

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

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 scare Year Ahead: entries, non-franchise titles, in tandem with A hectic Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The incoming horror season loads immediately with a January traffic jam, after that rolls through summer, and far into the year-end corridor, mixing marquee clout, fresh ideas, and shrewd counterweight. Studios and platforms are doubling down on smart costs, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that shape genre titles into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has shown itself to be the sturdy move in studio lineups, a genre that can scale when it resonates and still safeguard the floor when it falls short. After the 2023 year re-taught studio brass that disciplined-budget fright engines can lead the discourse, the following year held pace with director-led heat and quiet over-performers. The upswing flowed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and festival-grade titles demonstrated there is a lane for varied styles, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that play globally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with mapped-out bands, a pairing of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a tightened attention on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and home streaming.

Planners observe the category now acts as a swing piece on the calendar. The genre can debut on nearly any frame, yield a sharp concept for marketing and shorts, and exceed norms with viewers that respond on previews Thursday and hold through the sophomore frame if the picture pays off. Following a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout exhibits confidence in that approach. The calendar rolls out with a busy January block, then exploits spring through early summer for contrast, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that flows toward Halloween and afterwards. The grid also includes the greater integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and grow at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and storied titles. The players are not just greenlighting another continuation. They are moving to present story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a new vibe or a casting pivot that binds a next film to a initial period. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing physical effects work, special makeup and location-forward worlds. That fusion affords the 2026 slate a confident blend of comfort and novelty, which is what works overseas.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount fires first with two big-ticket pushes that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach points to a classic-referencing strategy without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign rooted in franchise iconography, first-look character reveals, and a tiered teaser plan targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites 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 contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will seek wide buzz through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick pivots to whatever dominates horror talk that spring.

Universal has three specific pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and easily pitched: a grieving man installs an AI companion that mutates into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to renew eerie street stunts and quick hits that fuses attachment and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His entries are framed as auteur events, with a hinting teaser and a next wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room to dominate 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that leans hard into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is describing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both longtime followers and fresh viewers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around mythos, and creature work, elements that can stoke premium screens and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by textural authenticity and dialect, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform tactics for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal titles feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a structure that boosts both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the late-window. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global originals and select theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, fright rows, and programmed rows to prolong the run on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix films and festival deals, confirming horror entries tight to release and turning into events arrivals with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of precision releases and prompt platform moves that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to pick up select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 sequence with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is straightforward: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, upgraded for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a big-screen first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the fall weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, managing the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then using the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has delivered for arthouse horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception justifies. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using limited theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 skews toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap cultural cachet. The potential drawback, as ever, is overexposure. The pragmatic answer is to sell each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the bundle is comforting enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

The last three-year set clarify the method. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not foreclose a day-and-date experiment from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror rose in large-format rooms. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without dead zones.

Technique and craft currents

The production chatter behind the 2026 entries foreshadow a continued move toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that centers texture and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft spotlights before rolling out a tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta reframe that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel key. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that play in premium auditoriums.

The schedule at a glance

January is crowded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid big-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the palette of tones carves a lane for each, Get More Info and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited teasers that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s core. 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 heartbroken man’s machine mate becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie 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 encounter a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss push to survive on a cut-off island as the control balance swivels and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, shaped by Cronin’s physical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting premise that teases the panic of a child’s uncertain impressions. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-crafted and A-list fronted occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that teases today’s horror trends and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a fresh family snared by ancient dread. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A new start designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing. 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 antique diction and ancient menace. Rating: pending. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces structure this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or reshuffled in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest social-ready stingers from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where lower and 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 harvest those lanes. 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. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sonics, and cinematography 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, Lined Up To Scare

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the fear sell the seats.