Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on leading streamers

An terrifying unearthly suspense film from scriptwriter / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an age-old entity when outsiders become vehicles in a hellish contest. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful tale of struggle and ancient evil that will redefine horror this Halloween season. Created by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and gothic film follows five people who emerge sealed in a remote house under the malevolent power of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a ancient scriptural evil. Steel yourself to be seized by a immersive journey that unites bodily fright with mystical narratives, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a legendary theme in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is flipped when the forces no longer form from elsewhere, but rather from deep inside. This represents the most primal element of every character. The result is a riveting inner struggle where the events becomes a merciless push-pull between purity and corruption.


In a remote terrain, five characters find themselves contained under the fiendish presence and grasp of a obscure figure. As the team becomes unresisting to escape her power, severed and preyed upon by creatures beyond reason, they are cornered to stand before their deepest fears while the hours unforgivingly draws closer toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread mounts and bonds fracture, compelling each cast member to rethink their self and the idea of independent thought itself. The consequences accelerate with every minute, delivering a horror experience that weaves together mystical fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dive into raw dread, an evil from prehistory, filtering through emotional vulnerability, and challenging a being that tests the soul when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is uninformed until the invasion happens, and that change is terrifying because it is so raw.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure households globally can get immersed in this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has garnered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, exporting the fear to scare fans abroad.


Tune in for this unforgettable voyage through terror. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to witness these nightmarish insights about free will.


For featurettes, special features, and updates from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit our horror hub.





Contemporary horror’s sea change: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate weaves primeval-possession lore, signature indie scares, and brand-name tremors

From pressure-cooker survival tales steeped in ancient scripture all the way to IP renewals together with focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into the most textured in tandem with carefully orchestrated year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. leading studios are anchoring the year with franchise anchors, simultaneously digital services saturate the fall with debut heat in concert with old-world menace. On the independent axis, independent banners is buoyed by the afterglow from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Since Halloween is the prized date, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, which means 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium genre swings back

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

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a bold swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a crisp modern milieu. Directed by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. set for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s slate sets loose the finale of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, and eerie supernatural logic. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, speaking to teens and older millennials. It drops in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Offerings: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

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

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. From writer director 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Badges as Fuel

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.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Franchise Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, from Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror swings back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Forward View: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The next terror calendar year ahead: Sequels, non-franchise titles, together with A brimming Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The upcoming terror cycle crowds immediately with a January wave, following that flows through June and July, and continuing into the year-end corridor, blending brand equity, new voices, and savvy offsets. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing right-sized spends, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that shape genre titles into four-quadrant talking points.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has solidified as the steady release in annual schedules, a segment that can surge when it connects and still safeguard the downside when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for studio brass that lean-budget horror vehicles can command cultural conversation, 2024 extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and sleeper breakouts. The energy carried into 2025, where reboots and filmmaker-prestige bets highlighted there is space for diverse approaches, from returning installments to filmmaker-driven originals that resonate abroad. The takeaway for 2026 is a calendar that reads highly synchronized across the major shops, with planned clusters, a spread of brand names and fresh ideas, and a revived focus on big-screen windows that feed downstream value on PVOD and streaming.

Planners observe the category now operates like a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can open on numerous frames, furnish a simple premise for promo reels and shorts, and overperform with ticket buyers that line up on Thursday nights and stick through the second frame if the entry works. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan shows belief in that equation. The slate begins with a stacked January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while leaving room for a fall run that stretches into the Halloween frame and into early November. The schedule also shows the deeper integration of arthouse labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, generate chatter, and broaden at the timely point.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across shared IP webs and storied titles. The companies are not just making another entry. They are working to present continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a star attachment that anchors a fresh chapter to a vintage era. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, in-camera effects and distinct locales. That combination gives the 2026 slate a vital pairing of brand comfort and invention, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two centerpiece releases that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the heart, presenting it as both a relay and a back-to-basics character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a memory-charged treatment without repeating the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Expect a marketing push anchored in signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique strategies. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that turns into a deadly partner. The date slots it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to recreate viral uncanny stunts and short reels that mixes intimacy and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a official title to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele titles are presented as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a follow-up trailer set that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The spooky-season slot creates space for Universal to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, hands-on effects mix can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror shock that centers overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio mounts two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is selling as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both franchise faithful and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can lift premium format interest and fan-forward engagement.

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 extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in careful craft and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus’s team has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is glowing.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. The Universal horror run feed copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both initial urgency and subscription bumps in the after-window. Prime Video stitches together third-party pickups with international acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library engagement, using featured rows, fright rows, and collection rows to lengthen the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival buys, dating horror entries near their drops and making event-like drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of targeted theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown a willingness to secure select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 arc with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, modernized 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. Cineverse has suggested a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, guiding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to go wider. That positioning has helped for prestige horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using mini theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Known brands versus new stories

By number, 2026 leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is centering character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-accented approach from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is anchored enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Rolling three-year comps announce the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that respected streaming windows did not deter a day-date move from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective 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, provides the means for marketing to link the films through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind these films foreshadow a continued tilt toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that highlights tone and tension rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft journalism and guild coverage before rolling out a tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature execution and sets, which play well in convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. 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 concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the tone spread carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth holds.

Q1 into Q2 prepare summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion escalates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. 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 demanding boss struggle to survive on a uninhabited island as the control balance reverses and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s tactile craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting piece that teases the fear of a child’s uncertain interpretations. Rating: to be announced. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-grade and marquee-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: get redirected here Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A satirical comeback that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 breaks out, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a another family linked to long-buried horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on true survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and ancient 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 in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or migrated in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, curated scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will jostle across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the efficient band. 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, right-sized allotments, 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 grain, sonics, and camera work 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, protect the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.