Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons primeval malevolence, a spine tingling feature, rolling out October 2025 across top streaming platforms

This spine-tingling spiritual fright fest from dramatist / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic terror when foreigners become pawns in a hellish game. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish tale of overcoming and forgotten curse that will reimagine scare flicks this Halloween season. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive motion picture follows five young adults who emerge locked in a off-grid hideaway under the ominous power of Kyra, a female lead overtaken by a legendary sacrosanct terror. Get ready to be hooked by a motion picture outing that weaves together instinctive fear with ancient myths, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a enduring motif in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is turned on its head when the malevolences no longer appear externally, but rather within themselves. This symbolizes the shadowy corner of the cast. The result is a riveting cognitive warzone where the tension becomes a brutal fight between virtue and vice.


In a haunting landscape, five characters find themselves trapped under the dark grip and inhabitation of a obscure figure. As the team becomes unable to deny her power, detached and chased by forces beyond comprehension, they are made to deal with their inner horrors while the moments brutally runs out toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion amplifies and connections erode, urging each individual to evaluate their self and the integrity of volition itself. The consequences escalate with every fleeting time, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that weaves together mystical fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to extract primitive panic, an spirit that existed before mankind, embedding itself in psychological breaks, and dealing with a will that strips down our being when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra demanded embodying something deeper than fear. She is oblivious until the evil takes hold, and that shift is deeply unsettling because it is so personal.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving audiences from coast to coast can survive this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its release of trailer #1, which has pulled in over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Witness this haunted journey into fear. Face *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to face these terrifying truths about the psyche.


For previews, filmmaker commentary, and announcements directly from production, follow @YACMovie across online outlets and visit the official digital haunt.





Modern horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 American release plan blends ancient-possession motifs, underground frights, alongside legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare rooted in scriptural legend to brand-name continuations as well as sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated together with tactically planned year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio majors plant stakes across the year with franchise anchors, while subscription platforms saturate the fall with debut heat alongside ancient terrors. Meanwhile, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the uplift from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Since Halloween is the prized date, the other windows are mapped with care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are calculated, therefore 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a confident swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Under director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. timed for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. From director Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer wanes, Warner’s pipeline sets loose the finale of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, plus otherworld rules that chill. The bar is raised this go, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror chamber piece featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Penned and steered 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is canny scheduling. No overstuffed canon. No continuity burden. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Long Running Lines: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, under 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.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trend Lines

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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 have to fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new terror release year: brand plays, Originals, paired with A loaded Calendar optimized for jolts

Dek: The emerging terror season crams immediately with a January wave, thereafter rolls through the summer months, and carrying into the December corridor, marrying series momentum, inventive spins, and smart release strategy. Studios with streamers are relying on lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and social-fueled campaigns that elevate genre titles into cross-demo moments.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror marketplace has shown itself to be the predictable swing in studio slates, a category that can scale when it hits and still protect the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can galvanize social chatter, 2024 sustained momentum with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The trend moved into the 2025 frame, where reboots and awards-minded projects signaled there is capacity for a spectrum, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The net effect for 2026 is a grid that feels more orchestrated than usual across the industry, with clear date clusters, a harmony of household franchises and fresh ideas, and a refocused eye on exhibition windows that fuel later windows on premium home window and digital services.

Planners observe the space now slots in as a schedule utility on the distribution slate. The genre can kick off on many corridors, furnish a grabby hook for teasers and reels, and overperform with audiences that respond on first-look nights and continue through the next weekend if the movie satisfies. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup telegraphs confidence in that engine. The slate kicks off with a loaded January schedule, then targets spring into early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a September to October window that reaches into late October and past the holiday. The arrangement also reflects the stronger partnership of specialty arms and platforms that can nurture a platform play, grow buzz, and widen at the precise moment.

A parallel macro theme is legacy care across interlocking continuities and legacy IP. The studios are not just making another continuation. They are working to present story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a new tone or a casting pivot that links a new entry to a vintage era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into tactile craft, physical gags and distinct locales. That fusion hands 2026 a healthy mix of brand comfort and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two prominent bets that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the core, steering it as both a legacy handover and a back-to-basics character-forward chapter. Production is active in Atlanta, and the narrative stance indicates a classic-referencing treatment without repeating the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign centered on iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will seek broad awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick turns to whatever owns the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an synthetic partner that unfolds into a murderous partner. The date locates it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to revisit uncanny live moments and bite-size content that have a peek here fuses romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. The filmmaker’s films are sold as marquee events, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, practical-effects forward mix can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Look for a gore-forward summer horror jolt that centers worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio sets two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is describing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and fresh viewers. The fall slot allows Sony to build assets around lore, and monster design, elements that can boost format premiums and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on immersive craft and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is warm.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both premiere heat and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video combines acquired titles with international acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using editorial spots, Halloween hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival deals, scheduling horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like arrivals with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a one-two of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to purchase select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly engagement when the genre conversation builds.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to broaden. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-driven genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception supports. Expect 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 as a pair, using select theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By weight, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The question, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to package each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is recognizable enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Three-year comps clarify the template. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a dual release from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror surged in this contact form premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, lets marketing to interlace chapters through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The shop talk behind the 2026 entries foreshadow a continued turn toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that elevates tone over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and drives shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature craft and set design, which align with booth activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is jammed. 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 atmospheric change-up amid bigger brand plays. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now can handle 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late summer into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a opaque tease strategy and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can play the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card redemption.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s AI companion grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a shimmering 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 tough boss push to survive on a remote island as the power balance inverts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fear, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 home-set haunting scenario that pipes the unease through a kid’s flickering POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: post-ready. Positioning: major-studio and A-list fronted eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that needles current genre trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: pending. Production: cameras due to roll 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 erupts, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a different family caught in residual nightmares. Rating: TBD. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: to be announced. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and elemental fear. Rating: not yet rated. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces organize this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify bite-size scare clips from test screenings, managed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, clearing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 breakout hunt 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two 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 cold, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, audio design, 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.

2026 Looks Exciting

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.