Age-old Dread reawakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, premiering October 2025 across top digital platforms

This bone-chilling supernatural suspense film from storyteller / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primordial terror when outsiders become pawns in a supernatural ordeal. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish story of living through and primordial malevolence that will revolutionize the horror genre this autumn. Guided by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and tone-heavy film follows five lost souls who suddenly rise sealed in a remote lodge under the sinister sway of Kyra, a tormented girl inhabited by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Prepare to be captivated by a motion picture event that merges raw fear with biblical origins, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a mainstay foundation in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is subverted when the spirits no longer form from elsewhere, but rather through their own souls. This echoes the haunting layer of the cast. The result is a psychologically brutal identity crisis where the events becomes a intense fight between purity and corruption.


In a remote outland, five individuals find themselves sealed under the malicious dominion and possession of a uncanny spirit. As the cast becomes paralyzed to escape her will, disconnected and targeted by evils ungraspable, they are forced to deal with their inner horrors while the timeline ruthlessly pushes forward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion intensifies and bonds dissolve, forcing each member to reconsider their personhood and the foundation of self-determination itself. The threat intensify with every tick, delivering a frightening tale that weaves together demonic fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to draw upon elemental fright, an curse that predates humanity, feeding on mental cracks, and examining a presence that forces self-examination when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra involved tapping into something deeper than fear. She is insensitive until the control shifts, and that metamorphosis is bone-chilling because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for public screening beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—allowing households everywhere can witness this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its intro video, which has been viewed over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, giving access to the movie to a global viewership.


Join this soul-jarring trip into the unknown. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to witness these fearful discoveries about the psyche.


For featurettes, production news, and insider scoops directly from production, follow @YACFilm across media channels and visit our film’s homepage.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 season domestic schedule interlaces old-world possession, underground frights, stacked beside IP aftershocks

Across pressure-cooker survival tales drawn from primordial scripture through to installment follow-ups together with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is tracking to be the most dimensioned paired with calculated campaign year in years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. major banners hold down the year with established lines, in tandem premium streamers load up the fall with discovery plays alongside old-world menace. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is riding the backdraft from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A fat September–October lane is customary now, however this time, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are intentional, thus 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige fear returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 set the base, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a marquee bet: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Slated for 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.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Directed by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline bows the concluding entry of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time the stakes climb, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Digital Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a room scale body horror descent including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed 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. It is an astute call. No swollen lore. No brand fatigue. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

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

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

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

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror returns
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

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 will scrap for air. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next scare Year Ahead: brand plays, universe starters, together with A jammed Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The current genre slate packs early with a January glut, before it unfolds through peak season, and far into the holiday stretch, marrying marquee clout, new concepts, and well-timed counterprogramming. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on right-sized spends, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that turn horror entries into national conversation.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has grown into the predictable release in studio lineups, a vertical that can spike when it clicks and still safeguard the losses when it misses. After 2023 signaled to top brass that lean-budget shockers can drive audience talk, 2024 continued the surge with festival-darling auteurs and stealth successes. The head of steam rolled into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and elevated films showed there is a market for different modes, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The sum for 2026 is a grid that seems notably aligned across the field, with mapped-out bands, a spread of household franchises and new packages, and a refocused focus on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital rental and home platforms.

Studio leaders note the genre now slots in as a versatile piece on the release plan. The genre can launch on virtually any date, deliver a sharp concept for trailers and shorts, and over-index with crowds that come out on preview nights and continue through the second weekend if the feature hits. Coming out of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 cadence demonstrates conviction in that approach. The calendar gets underway with a crowded January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for audience offsets, while saving space for a October build that flows toward the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The schedule also reflects the tightening integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the inflection point.

A reinforcing pattern is IP cultivation across linked properties and long-running brands. Studios are not just mounting another entry. They are trying to present lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a latest entry to a early run. At the meanwhile, the visionaries behind the marquee originals are favoring hands-on technique, practical effects and vivid settings. That pairing provides 2026 a solid mix of comfort and shock, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount sets the tone early with two centerpiece moves that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, marketing it as both a handoff and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a heritage-honoring angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign centered on legacy iconography, character-first teases, and a tease cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will emphasize. As a summer alternative, this one will go after wide appeal through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick pivots to whatever tops trend lines that spring.

Universal has three distinct strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, heartbroken, and easily pitched: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that becomes a dangerous lover. The date lines it up at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s marketing likely to replay creepy live activations and snackable content that mixes devotion and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a name unveil to become an earned moment closer to the early tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele projects are positioned as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has made clear that a tactile, hands-on effects strategy can feel prestige on a lean spend. Expect a red-band summer horror jolt that embraces offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio deploys two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a evergreen supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is describing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign pieces around setting detail, and monster design, elements that can see here increase premium format interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by historical precision and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that boosts both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with global pickups and targeted theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library engagement, using prominent placements, holiday hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix films and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and turning into events go-lives with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a staged of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly activity when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is tight: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through select festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas corridor to open out. That positioning has shown results for craft-driven horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception warrants. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, Source using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their user base.

Franchises versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap franchise value. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is underscoring relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the cast-creatives package is familiar enough to generate pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comparable trends from recent years contextualize the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not prevent a day-date move from hitting when the brand was robust. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror exceeded expectations in PLF. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they angle differently and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character web and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without dead zones.

Technique and craft currents

The filmmaking conversations behind the year’s horror telegraph a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that centers tone and tension rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead features and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at gross-out texture, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster aesthetics and world-building, which match well with fan-con activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel primary. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that work in PLF.

Calendar cadence

January is loaded. 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 brooding contrast amid headline IP. The month concludes 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 real, but the tonal variety carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May load in summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy revives 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 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August and September into October leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a transitional slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited information drops that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s AI companion turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: mood-led 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 severe boss battle to survive on a remote island as the chain of command turns and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to dread, founded on Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting chiller that mediates the fear via a young child’s unsteady internal vantage. Rating: TBA. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-built and toplined supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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: awaiting classification. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new clan snared by past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: to be announced. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and elemental dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shifted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 premieres. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will trade weekends across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 lean-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 surprise over-performer 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, aural design, 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, Ready To Roar

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is franchise muscle where it helps, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the screams sell the seats.