Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primeval horror, a pulse pounding chiller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

A blood-curdling otherworldly shockfest from creator / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial dread when newcomers become pawns in a demonic game. Available this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing portrayal of struggle and old world terror that will reshape genre cinema this harvest season. Guided by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and moody thriller follows five lost souls who regain consciousness confined in a remote shelter under the malignant command of Kyra, a tormented girl claimed by a two-thousand-year-old ancient fiend. Anticipate to be hooked by a motion picture spectacle that melds deep-seated panic with mythic lore, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a historical theme in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the beings no longer come from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This marks the malevolent dimension of the victims. The result is a emotionally raw internal warfare where the events becomes a intense contest between purity and corruption.


In a abandoned backcountry, five young people find themselves isolated under the malicious control and domination of a shadowy apparition. As the youths becomes incapable to resist her curse, exiled and stalked by unknowns beyond reason, they are compelled to reckon with their inner horrors while the hours harrowingly winds toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread intensifies and alliances disintegrate, urging each survivor to question their self and the notion of free will itself. The danger surge with every tick, delivering a fear-soaked story that marries demonic fright with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to tap into primal fear, an curse older than civilization itself, operating within psychological breaks, and navigating a force that forces self-examination when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is ignorant until the possession kicks in, and that conversion is eerie because it is so private.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering customers around the globe can be part of this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first trailer, which has received over 100K plays.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, offering the tale to lovers of terror across nations.


Experience this bone-rattling ride through nightmares. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to confront these dark realities about free will.


For previews, set experiences, and announcements from behind the lens, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across platforms and visit our horror hub.





Horror’s Turning Point: 2025 U.S. release slate Mixes primeval-possession lore, microbudget gut-punches, in parallel with series shake-ups

Ranging from pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by old testament echoes and stretching into canon extensions plus focused festival visions, 2025 is lining up as the most textured in tandem with blueprinted year in the past ten years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio powerhouses bookend the months with established lines, as premium streamers saturate the fall with fresh voices and archetypal fear. At the same time, the independent cohort is carried on the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The fall stretch is the proving field, notably this year, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige fear returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner starts the year with a bold swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, but a crisp modern milieu. Guided by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. targeting mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer winds down, Warner’s slate releases the last chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma as narrative engine, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The stakes escalate here, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, stretches the animatronic parade, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It arrives in December, securing the winter cap.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of 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 horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is an astute call. No swollen lore. No sequel clutter. 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 Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They are more runway than museum.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. 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 tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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

Dials to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror retakes ground
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Projection: Fall crush plus winter X factor

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The coming 2026 genre Year Ahead: Sequels, Originals, as well as A Crowded Calendar geared toward nightmares

Dek The new horror year packs from day one with a January pile-up, subsequently flows through summer, and well into the festive period, braiding marquee clout, fresh ideas, and smart alternatives. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on lean spends, theatrical leads, and influencer-ready assets that pivot these releases into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The horror sector has shown itself to be the most reliable move in release plans, a pillar that can accelerate when it hits and still cushion the risk when it fails to connect. After 2023 re-taught decision-makers that responsibly budgeted entries can lead mainstream conversation, the following year held pace with filmmaker-forward plays and word-of-mouth wins. The trend rolled into 2025, where legacy revivals and elevated films underscored there is demand for many shades, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a grid that presents tight coordination across the field, with planned clusters, a equilibrium of recognizable IP and novel angles, and a refocused attention on theatrical windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium on-demand and subscription services.

Schedulers say the space now performs as a flex slot on the schedule. Horror can premiere on most weekends, generate a clear pitch for ad units and reels, and outperform with demo groups that line up on first-look nights and sustain through the subsequent weekend if the movie connects. On the heels of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 rhythm underscores faith in that equation. The slate starts with a thick January stretch, then uses spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a September to October window that extends to spooky season and into November. The calendar also highlights the increasing integration of specialized labels and streaming partners that can develop over weeks, create conversation, and broaden at the optimal moment.

A notable top-line trend is franchise tending across linked properties and classic IP. Studio teams are not just mounting another chapter. They are seeking to position story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a brandmark that announces a recalibrated tone or a lead change that binds a incoming chapter to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the filmmakers behind the most buzzed-about originals are prioritizing in-camera technique, physical gags and specific settings. That blend affords the 2026 slate a robust balance of assurance and discovery, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

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

Paramount leads early with two big-ticket releases that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a succession moment and a DNA-forward character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a heritage-honoring bent without looping the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave anchored in legacy iconography, intro reveals, and a staggered trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also reboots 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mass reach through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick reframes to whatever shapes horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate projects. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, loss-driven, and commercial: a grieving man activates an AI companion that evolves into a deadly partner. The date sets it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to recreate odd public stunts and quick hits that mixes devotion and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a name unveil to become an earned moment closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s work are marketed as signature events, with a mystery-first teaser and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The prime October weekend opens a lane to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has long shown that a gnarly, physical-effects centered style can feel prestige on a middle budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror blast that centers worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio sets two franchise maneuvers in Get More Info the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, maintaining a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is describing as a fresh restart 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 mission to serve both players and casuals. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can boost premium screens and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books 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 driven by immersive craft and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a tiered path that maximizes both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the later window. Prime Video interleaves library titles with global pickups and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in back-catalog play, using editorial spots, genre hubs, and programmed rows to keep attention on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps flexible about Netflix originals and festival grabs, timing horror entries closer to drop and turning into events debuts with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with established auteurs or name-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for sustained usage when the genre conversation builds.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is direct: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, upgraded for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has helped for arthouse horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception prompts. Anticipate 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 select theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By share, 2026 is weighted toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The risk, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to market each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is centering character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a fresh helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries 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, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is steady enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Rolling three-year comps illuminate the approach. In 2023, a exclusive window model that maintained windows did not stop a simultaneous release test from winning when the brand was potent. In 2024, art-forward horror over-performed in premium large format. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they rotate perspective and elevate scope. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, enables marketing to tie installments through protagonists and motifs and to maintain a flow of assets without long breaks.

Behind-the-camera trends

The craft rooms behind the 2026 entries indicate a continued bias toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that emphasizes grain and menace rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in trade spotlights and craft coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a self-referential reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster realization and design, which play well in convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that center hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that work in PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is heavy. 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 quiet contrast amid larger brand plays. The month finishes 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 formidable, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Winter into spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Late summer into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a slow-reveal plan and limited previews that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s machine mate shifts into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss battle to survive on a rugged island as the pecking order upends and paranoia creeps in. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, shaped by Cronin’s on-set craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting tale that leverages the horror of a child’s shaky interpretations. Rating: TBD. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-scale and toplined occult chiller.

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: {A spoof revival that lampoons present-day genre chatter and true crime fervors. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming slated 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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a unlucky family anchored to past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on true survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and primordial menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, soundscape, and cinematography that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.