Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts ancient terror, a nerve shredding chiller, launching October 2025 across top digital platforms

A unnerving spiritual shockfest from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an mythic horror when passersby become pawns in a satanic maze. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking journey of resistance and primordial malevolence that will reshape scare flicks this October. Visualized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and atmospheric cinema piece follows five individuals who awaken trapped in a unreachable shelter under the oppressive sway of Kyra, a female presence dominated by a legendary religious nightmare. Brace yourself to be hooked by a theatrical presentation that fuses primitive horror with mystical narratives, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a enduring pillar in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is redefined when the demons no longer come from a different plane, but rather from within. This portrays the grimmest shade of the players. The result is a relentless identity crisis where the intensity becomes a perpetual tug-of-war between right and wrong.


In a barren no-man's-land, five teens find themselves sealed under the malicious grip and haunting of a unknown woman. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to deny her influence, cut off and followed by creatures unimaginable, they are obligated to confront their emotional phantoms while the timeline ruthlessly ticks onward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust rises and relationships implode, pushing each participant to challenge their core and the nature of personal agency itself. The intensity intensify with every tick, delivering a frightening tale that harmonizes otherworldly suspense with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to uncover deep fear, an evil beyond time, influencing our fears, and questioning a evil that questions who we are when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something unfamiliar to reason. She is innocent until the demon emerges, and that transformation is haunting because it is so internal.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring users everywhere can watch this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its original clip, which has been viewed over 100K plays.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, extending the thrill to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this unforgettable voyage through terror. Experience *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these evil-rooted truths about human nature.


For teasers, on-set glimpses, and updates via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Modern horror’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts fuses old-world possession, signature indie scares, set against legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from life-or-death fear drawn from biblical myth all the way to legacy revivals alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned together with calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios lay down anchors via recognizable brands, as digital services stack the fall with fresh voices paired with primordial unease. Across the art-house lane, the artisan tier is drafting behind the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The fall stretch is the proving field, though in this cycle, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are disciplined, so 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium genre swings back

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

Universal’s schedule sets the tone with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a sharp contemporary setting. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. targeting mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Helmed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer fades, the Warner Bros. banner sets loose the finale within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: period tinged dread, trauma as narrative engine, along with eerie supernatural rules. The ante is higher this round, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It books December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a tight space body horror vignette with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story starring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is a smart play. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Outlook: Autumn density and winter pivot

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The 2026 chiller release year: brand plays, filmmaker-first projects, alongside A stacked Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek The brand-new scare year stacks from the jump with a January bottleneck, and then spreads through summer corridors, and carrying into the holiday frame, balancing name recognition, untold stories, and well-timed counterprogramming. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing mid-range economics, cinema-first plans, and platform-native promos that frame horror entries into water-cooler talk.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror has shown itself to be the most reliable release in studio lineups, a pillar that can surge when it clicks and still buffer the risk when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that disciplined-budget chillers can command cultural conversation, the following year held pace with director-led heat and surprise hits. The head of steam translated to the 2025 frame, where re-entries and critical darlings showed there is a market for several lanes, from brand follow-ups to filmmaker-driven originals that translate worldwide. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a slate that presents tight coordination across distributors, with intentional bunching, a mix of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a re-energized strategy on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium rental and platforms.

Marketers add the genre now behaves like a swing piece on the distribution slate. Horror can debut on numerous frames, create a simple premise for creative and UGC-friendly snippets, and outperform with viewers that come out on opening previews and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the offering works. On the heels of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 plan shows faith in that setup. The year commences with a loaded January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterweight, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that extends to the fright window and beyond. The schedule also includes the tightening integration of indie distributors and streamers that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the proper time.

An added macro current is series management across ongoing universes and established properties. The companies are not just pushing another follow-up. They are trying to present ongoing narrative with a sense of event, whether that is a logo package that telegraphs a new tone or a cast configuration that threads a new installment to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the creative teams behind the top original plays are embracing tactile craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That pairing affords the 2026 slate a strong blend of brand comfort and discovery, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight plays that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the core, marketing it as both a lineage transfer and a return-to-roots relationship-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture signals a heritage-honoring bent without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push stacked with franchise iconography, first images of characters, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will play up. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek four-quadrant chatter through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever drives horror talk that spring.

Universal has three defined lanes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is tidy, melancholic, and commercial: a grieving man onboards an algorithmic mate that becomes a murderous partner. The date places it at the front of a busy month, with the marketing arm likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and brief clips that hybridizes longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a name unveil to become an headline beat closer to the first trailer. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s releases are sold as marquee events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later trailer push that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has made clear that a gnarly, practical-first mix can feel deluxe 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 non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, maintaining a evergreen supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation 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 well-defined brief to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by textural authenticity and historical speech, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is glowing.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. The Universal horror run feed copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ordering that amplifies both initial urgency and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video blends licensed titles with global pickups and limited runs in theaters when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library curation, using Source seasonal hubs, seasonal hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix films and festival acquisitions, slotting horror entries on shorter runways and making event-like premieres with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a paired of precision theatrical plays and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation swells.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 runway 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 sell is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, updated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the late stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has paid off for prestige horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception allows. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using precision theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchise entries versus originals

By weight, 2026 bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage franchise value. The potential drawback, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to package each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is elevating character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-driven titles add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the bundle is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and early previews.

Comps from the last three years help explain the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept streaming intact did not block a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was sticky. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they pivot perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, permits marketing to tie installments through cast and motif and to keep assets in-market without lulls.

How the films are being made

The creative meetings behind this slate foreshadow a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that emphasizes mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta recalibration that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature execution and sets, which work nicely for convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that emphasize razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that shine in top rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is loaded. 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 brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can win 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 rotated off PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder season window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited information drops that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and holiday card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s digital partner mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: ambience-forward adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss work to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power flips and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to nightmare, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting piece that frames the panic through a preteen’s flickering subjective lens. Rating: pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that satirizes of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fixations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new household caught in old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing. 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 period language and bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three grounded forces structure this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shifted in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming placements. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips timed to news Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will cluster across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where midrange-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 sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sound field, and visual design 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.