Primeval Horror Ascends in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on leading streamers

A bone-chilling metaphysical shockfest from scriptwriter / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an ancient curse when passersby become tools in a demonic conflict. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a intense journey of survival and prehistoric entity that will reimagine genre cinema this Halloween season. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric suspense flick follows five strangers who awaken confined in a unreachable lodge under the malignant manipulation of Kyra, a young woman haunted by a antiquated holy text monster. Be prepared to be enthralled by a immersive outing that weaves together intense horror with timeless legends, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a mainstay narrative in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is radically shifted when the fiends no longer form outside their bodies, but rather from their core. This illustrates the most hidden shade of the players. The result is a riveting inner struggle where the conflict becomes a unforgiving struggle between right and wrong.


In a remote woodland, five friends find themselves isolated under the malicious grip and control of a uncanny being. As the protagonists becomes vulnerable to break her will, disconnected and followed by creatures impossible to understand, they are obligated to acknowledge their worst nightmares while the clock without pity draws closer toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion swells and partnerships shatter, demanding each soul to question their existence and the nature of volition itself. The risk magnify with every second, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses otherworldly suspense with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to tap into deep fear, an spirit born of forgotten ages, feeding on fragile psyche, and examining a entity that threatens selfhood when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra required summoning something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the invasion happens, and that transition is deeply unsettling because it is so emotional.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for audiences beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that audiences in all regions can engage with this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has received over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Tune in for this visceral trip into the unknown. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to experience these haunting secrets about existence.


For sneak peeks, on-set glimpses, and press updates from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the film’s website.





Contemporary horror’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 cycle domestic schedule fuses ancient-possession motifs, signature indie scares, set against series shake-ups

Kicking off with survival horror grounded in scriptural legend as well as legacy revivals paired with pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become horror’s most layered and deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Top studios are anchoring the year with known properties, in parallel SVOD players stack the fall with debut heat paired with ancient terrors. On the independent axis, indie storytellers is catching the carry of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the other windows are mapped with care. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, notably this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal starts the year with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, inside today’s landscape. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Booked into 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.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The continuation widens the legend, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It hits in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Next comes Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable with Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Brands: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror comes roaring back
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The next genre Year Ahead: returning titles, standalone ideas, plus A loaded Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek: The current genre calendar loads immediately with a January traffic jam, following that rolls through the mid-year, and straight through the holiday stretch, marrying marquee clout, fresh ideas, and strategic release strategy. Studios and platforms are betting on responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and platform-native promos that pivot these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the bankable play in release plans, a category that can grow when it performs and still buffer the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 demonstrated to greenlighters that responsibly budgeted shockers can command pop culture, 2024 continued the surge with signature-voice projects and unexpected risers. The upswing extended into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles signaled there is demand for several lanes, from brand follow-ups to filmmaker-driven originals that translate worldwide. The sum for the 2026 slate is a grid that seems notably aligned across companies, with strategic blocks, a blend of established brands and new concepts, and a renewed eye on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and OTT platforms.

Executives say the genre now behaves like a schedule utility on the calendar. Horror can bow on many corridors, generate a clean hook for previews and reels, and exceed norms with fans that appear on first-look nights and maintain momentum through the second frame if the movie delivers. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern underscores certainty in that equation. The calendar begins with a loaded January stretch, then taps spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while clearing room for a September to October window that stretches into late October and into November. The grid also underscores the greater integration of specialized imprints and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, fuel WOM, and go nationwide at the inflection point.

A reinforcing pattern is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and classic IP. The companies are not just rolling another sequel. They are aiming to frame story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that telegraphs a re-angled tone or a star attachment that connects a latest entry to a early run. At the same time, the helmers behind the top original plays are celebrating material texture, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That combination gives 2026 a solid mix of comfort and unexpected turns, which is what works overseas.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two prominent projects that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach signals a throwback-friendly campaign without covering again the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign fueled by signature symbols, character previews, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever shapes genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is tidy, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man brings home an synthetic partner that turns into a deadly partner. The date places it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back uncanny-valley stunts and quick hits that melds companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a final title to become an attention spike closer to the debut look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. The filmmaker’s films are branded as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to command 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has proven that a flesh-and-blood, makeup-driven aesthetic can feel high-value on a efficient spend. Position this as a grime-caked summer horror surge that centers international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio rolls out two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, keeping a reliable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is calling a new foundation 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 well-defined brief to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot allows Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can fuel deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

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 builds on Eggers’ run of period horror built on meticulous craft and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. The Universal horror run head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ordering that expands both initial urgency and viewer acquisition in the later window. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in archive usage, using featured rows, spooky hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on the horror cume. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival snaps, dating horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around premieres with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of selective theatrical runs and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown appetite to acquire select projects with recognized filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 arc with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, upgraded for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas corridor to move out. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-first horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception supports. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

Known brands versus new stories

By share, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap cultural cachet. The caveat, as ever, is audience fatigue. The preferred tactic is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is centering character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the deal build is assuring enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept streaming intact did not hamper a same-day experiment from thriving when the brand was trusted. In 2024, auteur craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they angle differently and stretch the story. 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 two-film strategy, with chapters lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to thread films through character and theme and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The filmmaking conversations behind the year’s horror telegraph a continued preference for real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that elevates creep and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft coverage before rolling out a tease 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 engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which lend themselves to convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that spotlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that work in PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. 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 atmospheric change-up amid big-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the mix of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Winter into spring build the summer base. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited pre-release reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s intelligent companion mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a altering reality and the town’s this content horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: tone-first 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 abrasive boss scramble to survive on a rugged island as the power balance reverses and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s physical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting narrative that toys with the fright of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: to be announced. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-scale and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that teases contemporary horror memes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming 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: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a fresh family tethered to old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBA. Production: active. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and elemental dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026, why now

Three practical forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and leaner 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 surpassed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, curated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can capture a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will coexist across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer Source animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers continues in Q1, where midrange-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

From viewer POV, the year

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

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, 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 Is Well Positioned

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.