Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 across leading streamers

An blood-curdling occult thriller from author / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an prehistoric force when passersby become subjects in a malevolent trial. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing tale of overcoming and forgotten curse that will reconstruct scare flicks this harvest season. Produced by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and moody feature follows five unknowns who are stirred locked in a far-off shelter under the dark grip of Kyra, a haunted figure haunted by a biblical-era sacred-era entity. Brace yourself to be enthralled by a cinematic ride that melds gut-punch terror with biblical origins, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a long-standing motif in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is subverted when the presences no longer manifest outside the characters, but rather inside them. This embodies the most terrifying element of these individuals. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a brutal struggle between light and darkness.


In a abandoned no-man's-land, five figures find themselves sealed under the unholy aura and inhabitation of a shadowy entity. As the ensemble becomes powerless to evade her manipulation, marooned and tracked by forces beyond comprehension, they are confronted to reckon with their core terrors while the clock harrowingly strikes toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension escalates and teams splinter, prompting each soul to rethink their true nature and the idea of independent thought itself. The threat intensify with every heartbeat, delivering a fear-soaked story that connects mystical fear with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to extract deep fear, an malevolence born of forgotten ages, channeling itself through human fragility, and wrestling with a evil that tests the soul when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra demanded embodying something beneath mortal despair. She is insensitive until the takeover begins, and that shift is deeply unsettling because it is so internal.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be released for streaming beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that audiences no matter where they are can experience this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its first preview, which has been viewed over six-figure audience.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, offering the tale to horror fans worldwide.


Make sure to see this life-altering trip into the unknown. Stream *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these unholy truths about the soul.


For exclusive trailers, set experiences, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across online outlets and visit the official website.





Contemporary horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 in focus domestic schedule weaves legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, set against franchise surges

Across endurance-driven terror suffused with scriptural legend and extending to brand-name continuations set beside focused festival visions, 2025 is lining up as horror’s most layered along with deliberate year in the past ten years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio majors are anchoring the year with known properties, even as premium streamers prime the fall with fresh voices in concert with mythic dread. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is carried on the afterglow of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Since Halloween is the prized date, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are exacting, hence 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 presses the advantage.

the Universal banner begins the calendar with a statement play: a refashioned Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. releases the last chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the tone that worked before is intact: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This pass pushes higher, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, thickens the animatronic pantheon, courting teens and the thirty something base. It lands in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Firsts: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

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

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading 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.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, 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.

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.

Emerging Currents

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror comes roaring back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Projection: Autumn density and winter pivot

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 such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The 2026 genre Year Ahead: Sequels, Originals, paired with A loaded Calendar tailored for chills

Dek: The current genre year builds at the outset with a January traffic jam, and then spreads through the warm months, and far into the holidays, braiding brand equity, creative pitches, and shrewd calendar placement. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that frame horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror marketplace has shown itself to be the most reliable lever in distribution calendars, a space that can spike when it clicks and still safeguard the liability when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year re-taught leaders that cost-conscious fright engines can shape pop culture, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The run translated to 2025, where legacy revivals and premium-leaning entries underscored there is room for a spectrum, from continued chapters to standalone ideas that scale internationally. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a calendar that presents tight coordination across players, with planned clusters, a blend of household franchises and original hooks, and a re-energized focus on cinema windows that enhance post-theatrical value on paid VOD and subscription services.

Planners observe the space now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the grid. Horror can bow on most weekends, furnish a easy sell for marketing and vertical videos, and outstrip with fans that lean in on Thursday previews and continue through the next pass if the title lands. Following a production delay era, the 2026 pattern underscores trust in that approach. The slate commences with a stacked January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while holding room for a fall corridor that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The map also underscores the tightening integration of specialized imprints and digital platforms that can grow from platform, spark evangelism, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A parallel macro theme is series management across brand ecosystems and heritage properties. Studios are not just greenlighting another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a sense of event, whether that is a title design that flags a re-angled tone or a lead change that ties a new installment to a vintage era. At the parallel to that, the helmers behind the most anticipated originals are prioritizing real-world builds, practical effects and grounded locations. That convergence gives 2026 a solid mix of comfort and novelty, which is what works overseas.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount leads early with two spotlight moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the heart, angling it as both a lineage transfer and a back-to-basics relationship-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a classic-referencing angle without recycling the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will hunt wide appeal through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick adjustments to whatever tops horror talk that spring.

Universal has three specific releases. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is elegant, sorrow-tinged, and high-concept: a grieving man purchases an virtual partner that turns into a lethal partner. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise creepy live activations and short-cut promos that hybridizes companionship and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. 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 books October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are branded as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame gives Universal room to fill 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, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a tactile, physical-effects centered mix can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror blast that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio places two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is presenting as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both franchise faithful and casuals. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign creative around universe detail, and monster craft, elements that can boost format premiums and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors 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 rooted in immersive craft and historical speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. The specialty arm has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that amplifies both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the later phase. Prime Video pairs outside acquisitions with cross-border buys and brief theater runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using featured rows, horror hubs, and curated rows to keep attention on overall cume. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival pickups, timing horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events premieres with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a staged of precision theatrical plays and accelerated platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to pick up select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation builds.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 lane with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clean: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern mix and grade. 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 needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday corridor to open out. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception allows. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By skew, 2026 leans in favor of the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use brand equity. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The practical approach is to brand each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a European tilt from a ascendant talent. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and auteur plays bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the package is steady enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years frame the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from working when the brand was trusted. In 2024, director-craft horror rose in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through personae and themes and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

How the films are being made

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this slate foreshadow a continued emphasis on tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that spotlights unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft spotlights before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at red-band excess, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster aesthetics and world-building, which are ideal for convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that land in big rooms.

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 quiet contrast amid heftier brand moves. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the palette of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-October slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s founding notes. 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 loss-struck man’s synthetic partner becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 battle to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command shifts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to fear, founded on Cronin’s tactile craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. 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 in-home haunting tale that explores the horror of a child’s uncertain read. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-supported and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that riffs on present-day genre chatter and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a unlucky family linked to lingering terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on classic survival-horror tone over action fireworks. Rating: to be announced. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October his comment is here 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 era-accurate language and primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three grounded forces inform this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shifted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, precision scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 capitalize on those pockets. 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 pace and range. 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 sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, audio design, 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.

A Promising 2026

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the shudders sell the seats.