Age-old Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding chiller, launching October 2025 on global platforms

This terrifying metaphysical horror tale from creator / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an long-buried terror when newcomers become conduits in a malevolent conflict. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense episode of overcoming and ancient evil that will reimagine horror this October. Visualized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and cinematic suspense flick follows five individuals who suddenly rise isolated in a hidden shelter under the sinister rule of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a 2,000-year-old biblical demon. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a narrative journey that harmonizes gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a mainstay trope in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is flipped when the monsters no longer come from a different plane, but rather inside their minds. This portrays the malevolent side of each of them. The result is a riveting mental war where the drama becomes a perpetual contest between righteousness and malevolence.


In a unforgiving forest, five teens find themselves trapped under the ominous aura and control of a secretive entity. As the group becomes submissive to oppose her will, disconnected and targeted by powers inconceivable, they are cornered to stand before their darkest emotions while the time without pity pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread surges and teams crack, forcing each member to contemplate their values and the idea of liberty itself. The intensity accelerate with every heartbeat, delivering a paranormal ride that harmonizes ghostly evil with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to awaken ancestral fear, an threat from ancient eras, working through soul-level flaws, and testing a force that strips down our being when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra meant channeling something beyond human emotion. She is innocent until the entity awakens, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that fans worldwide can witness this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first trailer, which has earned over 100K plays.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, bringing the film to global fright lovers.


Make sure to see this gripping ride through nightmares. Experience *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to witness these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For teasers, set experiences, and social posts from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across entertainment pages and visit the official website.





Horror’s major pivot: the year 2025 stateside slate melds biblical-possession ideas, signature indie scares, and brand-name tremors

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare suffused with mythic scripture all the way to IP renewals together with focused festival visions, 2025 is emerging as the most complex in tandem with carefully orchestrated year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. studio majors bookend the months with established lines, as digital services saturate the fall with new perspectives in concert with ancient terrors. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is carried on the uplift from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are calculated, which means 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: The Return of Prestige Fear

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm opens the year with a risk-forward move: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. arriving mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer winds down, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the memorable motifs return: throwback unease, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, broadens the animatronic terror cast, speaking to teens and older millennials. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Originals: No Budget, No Problem

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a close quarters body horror study fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

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 canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. 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. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Franchise Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Dials to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Season Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The upcoming fear calendar year ahead: Sequels, non-franchise titles, as well as A busy Calendar designed for screams

Dek: The brand-new genre cycle crowds from the jump with a January pile-up, thereafter unfolds through peak season, and deep into the festive period, weaving franchise firepower, inventive spins, and tactical alternatives. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on efficient budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and short-form initiatives that pivot these offerings into culture-wide discussion.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The genre has shown itself to be the sturdy option in distribution calendars, a genre that can surge when it catches and still insulate the drag when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to executives that efficiently budgeted shockers can galvanize pop culture, the following year held pace with buzzy auteur projects and word-of-mouth wins. The carry carried into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects made clear there is room for different modes, from returning installments to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a grid that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with planned clusters, a pairing of marquee IP and original hooks, and a recommitted stance on release windows that increase tail monetization on PVOD and digital services.

Planners observe the horror lane now performs as a schedule utility on the schedule. The genre can arrive on many corridors, generate a clear pitch for teasers and social clips, and overperform with audiences that respond on preview nights and maintain momentum through the next pass if the film connects. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 rhythm indicates confidence in that engine. The calendar rolls out with a thick January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that extends to spooky season and past the holiday. The program also spotlights the expanded integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the inflection point.

A companion trend is brand curation across connected story worlds and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just producing another sequel. They are shaping as story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a casting choice that reconnects a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the auteurs behind the top original plays are embracing in-camera technique, makeup and prosthetics and concrete locations. That pairing affords the 2026 slate a robust balance of home base and invention, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount establishes early momentum with two high-profile releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach announces a heritage-honoring strategy without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive rooted in classic imagery, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is big-screen 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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is elegant, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an virtual partner that becomes a dangerous lover. The date places it at the front of a thick month, with marketing at Universal likely to recreate strange in-person beats and brief clips that blurs love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title reveal to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. The filmmaker’s films are presented as signature events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame opens a lane to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has proven that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel deluxe on a efficient spend. Look for a red-band summer horror shot that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio rolls out two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, maintaining a evergreen supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is marketing as a fresh restart 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 charge to serve both core fans and newcomers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around canon, and practical creature work, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by minute detail and period speech, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform plans for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate window into copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ladder that boosts both first-week urgency and platform bumps in the tail. Prime Video pairs outside acquisitions with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using featured rows, October hubs, and handpicked rows to stretch the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival pickups, securing horror entries near their drops and turning into events releases with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a tiered of targeted cinema placements 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 working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown appetite to board select projects with established auteurs or A-list packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation peaks.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is curating a 2026 slate with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, modernized for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday dates to scale. That positioning has worked well for arthouse horror with mainstream crossovers. 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 plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception merits. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, 2026 leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The risk, as ever, is fatigue. The standing approach is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the cast-creatives package is recognizable enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent comps illuminate the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not block a dual release from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. 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 double feature plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to tie installments through relationships and themes and to keep assets in-market without long gaps.

How the films are being made

The shop talk behind the year’s horror hint at a continued lean toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that elevates grain and menace rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in deep-dive features and department features before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature design and production design, which fit with fan conventions and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel essential. Look for trailers that underscore surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

Release calendar overview

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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heftier brand moves. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late winter and spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls 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 lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited information drops that elevate concept over story.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s AI companion mutates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the hierarchy tilts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, built on Cronin’s material craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting tale that threads the dread through a child’s flickering POV. Rating: TBD. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-supported and name-above-title supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A satirical comeback that riffs on of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fervors. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: fall 2025 production window. 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 erupts, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new clan anchored to old terrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for pure survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 time-true diction and primordial menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the moment is 2026

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and pared-down timelines. 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 beaten straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on repeatable beats from test screenings, select scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, providing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where modest-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 shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP Check This Out 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, acoustics, 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, guard the secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.