Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on premium platforms

A haunting paranormal thriller from literary architect / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an timeless force when outsiders become pawns in a dark ordeal. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping journey of resilience and forgotten curse that will resculpt the horror genre this spooky time. Helmed by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick film follows five figures who awaken stuck in a wilderness-bound hideaway under the ominous influence of Kyra, a possessed female dominated by a timeless sacrosanct terror. Prepare to be gripped by a visual experience that merges visceral dread with timeless legends, debuting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a long-standing pillar in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is flipped when the spirits no longer originate from elsewhere, but rather inside their minds. This portrays the deepest element of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat emotional conflict where the events becomes a merciless struggle between heaven and hell.


In a wilderness-stricken outland, five individuals find themselves sealed under the evil grip and overtake of a unknown female figure. As the ensemble becomes incapacitated to evade her curse, severed and tracked by forces unfathomable, they are driven to battle their core terrors while the time harrowingly counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and ties implode, compelling each figure to reflect on their identity and the notion of decision-making itself. The intensity surge with every short lapse, delivering a nightmarish journey that merges supernatural terror with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to channel instinctual horror, an evil that predates humanity, feeding on mental cracks, and exposing a presence that forces self-examination when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra needed manifesting something far beyond human desperation. She is ignorant until the invasion happens, and that turn is soul-crushing because it is so unshielded.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for streaming beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering watchers worldwide can enjoy this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first preview, which has received over a viral response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, extending the thrill to fans of fear everywhere.


Tune in for this mind-warping path of possession. Watch *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to face these dark realities about free will.


For exclusive trailers, extra content, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across entertainment pages and visit the film’s website.





Horror’s Turning Point: 2025 in focus U.S. release slate interlaces archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, in parallel with tentpole growls

From last-stand terror inspired by scriptural legend and extending to series comebacks in concert with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is coalescing into the most stratified and strategic year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses bookend the months with known properties, at the same time OTT services stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, independent banners is riding the backdraft from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are intentional, so 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

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

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal leads off the quarter with a big gambit: a modernized Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Slated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 follows. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: nostalgic menace, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. This pass pushes higher, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a sealed box body horror arc fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Series Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

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

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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.

Signals and Trends

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

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

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: 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 like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The 2026 spook release year: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, alongside A Crowded Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek: The emerging scare calendar stacks from the jump with a January pile-up, after that carries through the mid-year, and well into the festive period, combining series momentum, creative pitches, and strategic calendar placement. The major players are leaning into lean spends, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that elevate these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the predictable swing in studio slates, a genre that can surge when it performs and still safeguard the losses when it misses. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for strategy teams that cost-conscious genre plays can galvanize audience talk, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The head of steam fed into 2025, where legacy revivals and critical darlings proved there is a lane for a variety of tones, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that export nicely. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a roster that seems notably aligned across the market, with obvious clusters, a harmony of recognizable IP and new packages, and a renewed focus on exclusive windows that increase tail monetization on premium on-demand and streaming.

Schedulers say the category now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the release plan. Horror can premiere on almost any weekend, offer a tight logline for creative and platform-native cuts, and outstrip with demo groups that respond on Thursday nights and hold through the second frame if the film delivers. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 mapping shows comfort in that logic. The year begins with a heavy January stretch, then turns to spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a fall cadence that extends to the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The grid also illustrates the greater integration of specialized labels and subscription services that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and expand at the precise moment.

A second macro trend is IP cultivation across shared universes and classic IP. The players are not just mounting another follow-up. They are looking to package ongoing narrative with a sense of event, whether that is a graphic identity that conveys a reframed mood or a cast configuration that reconnects a latest entry to a classic era. At the very same time, the creative leads behind the headline-grabbing originals are championing real-world builds, real effects and specific settings. That interplay provides 2026 a strong blend of familiarity and discovery, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two headline plays that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the center, marketing it as both a passing of the torch and a origin-leaning character piece. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the tonal posture indicates a nostalgia-forward angle without looping the last two entries’ sibling arc. Anticipate a campaign leaning on signature symbols, first-look character reveals, and a tease cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also resurrects 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 draw the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format permitting quick turns to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three clear releases. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is crisp, grief-rooted, and big-hook: a grieving man onboards an algorithmic mate that evolves into a killer companion. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise uncanny live moments and micro spots that interlaces love and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s pictures are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a mystery-first teaser and a follow-up trailer set that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date opens a lane to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has established that a tactile, hands-on effects aesthetic can feel cinematic on a mid-range budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror jolt that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio mounts two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is presenting as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both devotees and casuals. The fall slot provides the studio time to build artifacts around world-building, and creature effects, elements that can stoke PLF interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by immersive craft and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

How the platforms plan to play it

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s slate land on copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ladder that expands both first-week urgency and trial spikes in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix licensed content with worldwide buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in deep cuts, using timely promos, seasonal hubs, and curated rows to prolong the run on overall cume. Netflix keeps options open about original films and festival snaps, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and turning into events debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a tiered of precision releases and quick platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with established auteurs or star-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is direct: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, updated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a traditional cinema play for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the December frame to expand. That positioning has served the company well for elevated genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception allows. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using precision theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By skew, 2026 is weighted toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on name recognition. The caveat, as ever, is brand erosion. The near-term solution is to position each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is centering character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a continental coloration from a new voice. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the configuration is comforting enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent-year comps contextualize the template. In 2023, a theater-first model that observed windows did not block a same-day experiment from performing when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror exceeded expectations in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the upcoming entries point to a continued move toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and guild coverage before rolling out a tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which match well with fan conventions and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that emphasize fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: this page The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the tone spread carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can pop 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 rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that put concept first.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 unyielding boss work to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to terror, founded on Cronin’s in-camera craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. 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 setup that pipes the unease through a little one’s uncertain personal vantage. Rating: forthcoming. Production: post-ready. Positioning: major-studio and star-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true crime preoccupations. Rating: to be announced. Production: production booked for fall 2025. 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 detonates, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a young family caught in ancient dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A new start designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survivalist horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: undetermined. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and elemental menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces shape this lineup. First, production that paused or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, 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 target range. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, 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 cadence and diversity. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal 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 icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound, and visuals 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision where it counts, 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.