Primordial Horror stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, premiering October 2025 across global platforms

This spine-tingling spiritual suspense film from writer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an prehistoric horror when guests become instruments in a hellish conflict. Launching October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish episode of resilience and timeless dread that will redefine terror storytelling this fall. Realized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and moody thriller follows five figures who awaken confined in a hidden house under the unfriendly manipulation of Kyra, a female lead overtaken by a ancient ancient fiend. Arm yourself to be gripped by a narrative display that weaves together soul-chilling terror with ancestral stories, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a time-honored concept in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is reimagined when the presences no longer originate outside the characters, but rather inside their minds. This illustrates the darkest layer of all involved. The result is a edge-of-seat mind game where the narrative becomes a relentless clash between right and wrong.


In a haunting wild, five young people find themselves caught under the malevolent dominion and grasp of a obscure character. As the team becomes vulnerable to reject her control, isolated and preyed upon by beings unnamable, they are obligated to battle their soulful dreads while the time mercilessly ticks onward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease surges and associations splinter, coercing each person to reconsider their essence and the principle of autonomy itself. The cost escalate with every heartbeat, delivering a fear-soaked story that combines supernatural terror with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to extract primal fear, an threat beyond recorded history, manifesting in inner turmoil, and examining a force that strips down our being when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra involved tapping into something far beyond human desperation. She is insensitive until the possession kicks in, and that flip is harrowing because it is so visceral.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing streamers no matter where they are can survive this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over a viral response.


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


Avoid skipping this bone-rattling trip into the unknown. Face *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to see these evil-rooted truths about the mind.


For sneak peeks, extra content, and alerts via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit the official digital haunt.





Contemporary horror’s major pivot: the year 2025 stateside slate blends old-world possession, independent shockers, in parallel with legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare steeped in mythic scripture and including brand-name continuations in concert with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is shaping up as the genre’s most multifaceted as well as deliberate year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios plant stakes across the year using marquee IP, as streaming platforms prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs alongside primordial unease. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is surfing the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are surgical, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium dread reemerges

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate opens the year with an audacious swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in a clear present-tense world. From director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. arriving mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer fades, the Warner lot sets loose the finale from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson resumes command, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This run ups the stakes, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Digital Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale toplined 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.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No heavy handed lore. No sequel clutter. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Trend Lines

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 spook season: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, as well as A jammed Calendar optimized for nightmares

Dek The incoming horror season crams up front with a January cluster, from there spreads through peak season, and well into the holiday stretch, mixing marquee clout, fresh ideas, and well-timed calendar placement. The major players are focusing on mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that shape genre titles into mainstream chatter.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has become the predictable counterweight in studio lineups, a pillar that can surge when it catches and still buffer the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 showed buyers that lean-budget chillers can lead the zeitgeist, 2024 sustained momentum with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The tailwind translated to the 2025 frame, where reboots and awards-minded projects made clear there is space for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a schedule that shows rare alignment across companies, with intentional bunching, a mix of brand names and fresh ideas, and a recommitted priority on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on premium digital and home streaming.

Executives say the genre now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can launch on almost any weekend, generate a easy sell for teasers and social clips, and over-index with audiences that lean in on advance nights and keep coming through the subsequent weekend if the release fires. Exiting a production delay era, the 2026 setup telegraphs certainty in that engine. The slate begins with a busy January run, then uses spring and early summer for balance, while leaving room for a September to October window that flows toward Halloween and past the holiday. The layout also shows the deeper integration of boutique distributors and subscription services that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and widen at the right moment.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across linked properties and legacy franchises. Big banners are not just mounting another return. They are shaping as threaded continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a tonal shift or a cast configuration that links a latest entry to a early run. At the meanwhile, the helmers behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into hands-on technique, physical gags and specific settings. That fusion offers the 2026 slate a healthy mix of recognition and freshness, which is how the films export.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two centerpiece releases that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, signaling it as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a roots-evoking strategy without covering again the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. The studio is likely to mount a drive built on franchise iconography, first-look character reveals, and a tease cadence slated for 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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers navigate here involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will chase wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is straightforward, loss-driven, and commercial: a grieving man activates an machine companion that turns into a dangerous lover. The date slots it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s promo team likely to recreate eerie street stunts and short-form creative that threads love and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are treated as event films, with a teaser that reveals little and a next wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The pre-Halloween slot affords Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, prosthetic-heavy method can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Expect a grime-caked summer horror jolt that centers have a peek at these guys international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, carrying a steady supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both longtime followers and first-timers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can fuel format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and textual fidelity, this time engaging werewolf myth. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s releases shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that maximizes both premiere heat and trial spikes in the downstream. Prime Video blends library titles with global pickups and brief theater runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library curation, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and curated strips to stretch the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival additions, finalizing horror entries near launch and elevating as drops launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a one-two of targeted cinema placements and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to buy select projects with prestige directors or marquee packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clean: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, refined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the autumn weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to move out. That positioning has worked well for auteur horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception merits. 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 jointly, using limited runs to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate bends toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The risk, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to brand each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is centering character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a Francophone tone from a fresh helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is known enough to build pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps announce the template. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that preserved streaming windows did not stop a hybrid test from winning when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror over-performed in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses 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 in sequence, builds a path for marketing to link the films through cast and motif and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The creative meetings behind the 2026 entries signal a continued bias toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that centers grain and menace rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft profiles and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature work and production design, which match well with booth activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel essential. Look for trailers that spotlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that land in premium houses.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. 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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Pre-summer months set up the summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can hit 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 worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a early fall window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a peekaboo tease plan and limited plot reveals that favor idea over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card spend.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the pecking order upends and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to dread, rooted in Cronin’s hands-on craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. 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 domestic haunting scenario that twists the dread of a child’s tricky impressions. Rating: TBA. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: have a peek at these guys {A comic send-up that skewers present-day genre chatter and true-crime obsessions. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 detonates, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: filming 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: TBA. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new clan anchored to returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBD. Production: advancing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and raw menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 lands now

Three grounded forces shape this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-slotted in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter schedules. 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will stack across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 quiet 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.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, 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

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand heft where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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, craft precise trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.