Age-old Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

An blood-curdling occult nightmare movie from literary architect / director Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an archaic force when unfamiliar people become puppets in a devilish ordeal. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing journey of overcoming and primordial malevolence that will redefine the fear genre this scare season. Brought to life by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five characters who snap to caught in a secluded shelter under the malignant will of Kyra, a central character haunted by a two-thousand-year-old biblical force. Brace yourself to be seized by a immersive adventure that weaves together bodily fright with legendary tales, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic narrative in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is radically shifted when the spirits no longer form from a different plane, but rather within themselves. This embodies the deepest dimension of the cast. The result is a enthralling emotional conflict where the conflict becomes a unforgiving battle between heaven and hell.


In a haunting wilderness, five friends find themselves imprisoned under the unholy control and spiritual invasion of a haunted apparition. As the protagonists becomes unresisting to reject her will, exiled and tormented by terrors unnamable, they are thrust to stand before their greatest panics while the seconds unforgivingly counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust mounts and links crack, pushing each person to reconsider their self and the integrity of autonomy itself. The tension mount with every short lapse, delivering a cinematic nightmare that fuses spiritual fright with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to dive into primal fear, an evil that predates humanity, emerging via psychological breaks, and challenging a spirit that redefines identity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra demanded embodying something more primal than sorrow. She is unseeing until the evil takes hold, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so unshielded.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for streaming beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure horror lovers everywhere can experience this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has gathered over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, delivering the story to fans of fear everywhere.


Join this heart-stopping journey into fear. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to acknowledge these chilling revelations about the soul.


For behind-the-scenes access, production news, and social posts from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across platforms and visit the official website.





Current horror’s tipping point: the 2025 season domestic schedule interlaces archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, set against returning-series thunder

Ranging from life-or-death fear drawn from near-Eastern lore to canon extensions and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the most stratified paired with strategic year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios hold down the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously SVOD players flood the fall with unboxed visions set against scriptural shivers. On the festival side, the independent cohort is surfing the backdraft from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween holding the peak, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are precise, accordingly 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 presses the advantage.

the Universal camp begins the calendar with a confident swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Booked into mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. sets loose the finale from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retrograde shiver, trauma foregrounded, and a cold supernatural calculus. This run ups the stakes, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It arrives in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

More contained by design is Together, a two hander body horror spiral pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Penned and steered 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in 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 reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

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 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, from Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Projection: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming fright slate: installments, Originals, together with A jammed Calendar optimized for screams

Dek: The emerging horror season clusters from day one with a January wave, before it extends through peak season, and pushing into the December corridor, mixing IP strength, inventive spins, and strategic counterweight. Distributors with platforms are betting on right-sized spends, big-screen-first runs, and platform-native promos that frame the slate’s entries into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This category has emerged as the surest move in studio lineups, a corner that can grow when it resonates and still buffer the drawdown when it falls short. After 2023 showed greenlighters that lean-budget entries can dominate the national conversation, the following year kept the drumbeat going with director-led heat and stealth successes. The tailwind translated to 2025, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers proved there is appetite for varied styles, from returning installments to original features that play globally. The end result for 2026 is a grid that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with obvious clusters, a mix of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a tightened priority on theatrical windows that boost PVOD and platform value on paid VOD and OTT platforms.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now works like a fill-in ace on the schedule. The genre can roll out on almost any weekend, supply a simple premise for creative and TikTok spots, and overperform with moviegoers that respond on early shows and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the movie delivers. Following a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration telegraphs confidence in that equation. The year commences with a heavy January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a autumn push that runs into All Hallows period and afterwards. The gridline also illustrates the expanded integration of indie distributors and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, create conversation, and grow at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is franchise tending across interlocking continuities and heritage properties. Major shops are not just rolling another continuation. They are looking to package ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title treatment that signals a tonal shift or a casting move that connects a upcoming film to a classic era. At the in tandem, the directors behind the top original plays are returning to on-set craft, practical effects and location-forward worlds. That interplay affords the 2026 slate a solid mix of trust and shock, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a DNA-forward relationship-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a nostalgia-forward approach without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run built on legacy iconography, character previews, and a promo sequence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will chase wide buzz through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick adjustments to whatever shapes genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tidy, tragic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an AI companion that turns into a dangerous lover. The date sets it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to bring back odd public stunts and micro spots that melds love and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the opening teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s releases are treated as auteur events, with a opaque teaser and a later trailer push that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The pre-Halloween slot gives Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has shown that a visceral, hands-on effects strategy can feel premium on a moderate cost. Frame it as a hard-R summer horror surge that spotlights global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio books two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, sustaining a proven supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is describing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both fans and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build materials around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can stoke large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

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 Eggers’ run of period horror centered on meticulous craft and period language, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is favorable.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. The Universal horror run shift to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a structure that elevates both debut momentum and trial spikes in the tail. Prime Video pairs licensed films with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their edges in catalog discovery, using timely promos, October hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on overall cume. Netflix retains agility about originals and festival pickups, finalizing horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like go-lives with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits 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 turning to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown a willingness to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clean: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, reimagined 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. The distributor has positioned a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to widen. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using boutique theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use legacy awareness. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The go-to fix is to pitch each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is underscoring character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and auteur plays bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is grounded enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns help explain the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that kept streaming intact did not obstruct a day-date move from thriving when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror surged in premium formats. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they angle differently and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, gives leeway to marketing to thread films through protagonists and motifs and to maintain a flow of assets without long breaks.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind the upcoming entries suggest a continued preference for physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that highlights unease and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which align with convention activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel necessary. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Q1 into Q2 tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-first teaser plan and limited disclosures that put concept first.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift navigate here card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s artificial companion shifts into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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

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 collide with a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss struggle to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power tilts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to horror, built on Cronin’s practical effects and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting piece that explores the dread of a child’s shaky senses. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satire sequel that riffs on today’s horror trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan bound to residual nightmares. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: pending. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: imp source date shifting, fall likely.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack 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 leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where lower and 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces 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 bleak, 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 scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, and image-making 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

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand equity where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows have a peek at these guys studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, guard the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.