Antediluvian Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, premiering October 2025 across global platforms

This eerie spiritual thriller from writer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an primordial malevolence when foreigners become pawns in a cursed game. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish saga of endurance and primordial malevolence that will remodel scare flicks this spooky time. Crafted by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and moody thriller follows five strangers who find themselves imprisoned in a remote hideaway under the ominous will of Kyra, a young woman inhabited by a legendary holy text monster. Anticipate to be hooked by a narrative event that harmonizes deep-seated panic with timeless legends, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a mainstay theme in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is turned on its head when the monsters no longer develop outside the characters, but rather inside them. This echoes the shadowy element of all involved. The result is a psychologically brutal identity crisis where the tension becomes a perpetual confrontation between purity and corruption.


In a abandoned backcountry, five young people find themselves contained under the fiendish grip and haunting of a enigmatic apparition. As the youths becomes paralyzed to fight her will, stranded and stalked by unknowns beyond reason, they are compelled to endure their inner demons while the seconds brutally runs out toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension builds and relationships crack, forcing each figure to reflect on their identity and the idea of self-determination itself. The pressure grow with every second, delivering a scare-fueled ride that harmonizes paranormal dread with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke basic terror, an presence older than civilization itself, manifesting in mental cracks, and highlighting a power that threatens selfhood when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra was centered on something beyond human emotion. She is blind until the curse activates, and that flip is gut-wrenching because it is so emotional.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for audience access beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring horror lovers no matter where they are can get immersed in this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first trailer, which has gathered over notable views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, giving access to the movie to a global viewership.


Join this visceral path of possession. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to explore these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and press updates via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





Modern horror’s inflection point: the 2025 season stateside slate melds archetypal-possession themes, art-house nightmares, in parallel with franchise surges

Ranging from life-or-death fear grounded in primordial scripture and extending to brand-name continuations plus focused festival visions, 2025 appears poised to be the most variegated paired with deliberate year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses stabilize the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously platform operators pack the fall with emerging auteurs alongside ancient terrors. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is catching the kinetic energy of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween holding the peak, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are intentional, which means 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with a risk-forward move: a reconceived Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. arriving mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial heat flags it as potent.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. drops the final chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma foregrounded, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It opens in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Firsts: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative with Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

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. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a smart play. No overinflated mythology. No franchise baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, from Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Signals and Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror retakes ground
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Near Term Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The new fright Year Ahead: returning titles, original films, and also A packed Calendar optimized for goosebumps

Dek The upcoming genre season crowds in short order with a January traffic jam, thereafter unfolds through midyear, and continuing into the holiday stretch, fusing franchise firepower, new concepts, and savvy offsets. Studio marketers and platforms are relying on efficient budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and shareable marketing that turn genre titles into culture-wide discussion.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror sector has grown into the dependable release in studio calendars, a lane that can grow when it catches and still protect the losses when it does not. After 2023 reassured decision-makers that efficiently budgeted genre plays can galvanize the national conversation, the following year kept the drumbeat going with festival-darling auteurs and slow-burn breakouts. The tailwind moved into 2025, where reawakened brands and festival-grade titles underscored there is demand for many shades, from sequel tracks to director-led originals that resonate abroad. The takeaway for 2026 is a slate that feels more orchestrated than usual across studios, with obvious clusters, a pairing of legacy names and new concepts, and a recommitted focus on theatrical windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium on-demand and subscription services.

Insiders argue the space now acts as a flex slot on the distribution slate. Horror can premiere on most weekends, yield a grabby hook for trailers and platform-native cuts, and outperform with patrons that respond on Thursday previews and hold through the next pass if the feature lands. Exiting a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 layout indicates comfort in that dynamic. The year kicks off with a weighty January band, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while keeping space for a fall run that stretches into the Halloween frame and afterwards. The calendar also reflects the ongoing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can platform a title, ignite recommendations, and go nationwide at the strategic time.

A parallel macro theme is brand management across shared IP webs and established properties. The studios are not just making another entry. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a brandmark that suggests a new vibe or a casting choice that anchors a latest entry to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the high-profile originals are embracing hands-on technique, on-set effects and vivid settings. That interplay gives the 2026 slate a smart balance of comfort and discovery, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

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

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight entries that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the heart, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward character piece. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the narrative stance suggests a legacy-leaning framework without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Expect a marketing push rooted in recognizable motifs, first images of characters, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a summer alternative, this one will seek general-audience talk through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format allowing quick pivots to whatever owns trend lines that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, tragic, and premise-first: a grieving man purchases an synthetic partner that shifts into a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with the Universal machine likely to recreate viral uncanny stunts and brief clips that blurs affection and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a proper title to become an PR pop closer to the opening teaser. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. His entries are framed as creative events, with a concept-forward tease and a later trailer push that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-month date creates space for Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a gnarly, practical-effects forward treatment can feel elevated on a middle budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror jolt that emphasizes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio launches two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is marketing as a fresh restart 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 mission to serve both fans and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign creative around canon, and creature builds, elements that can boost IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in careful craft and archaic language, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is supportive.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Digital strategies for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ordering that optimizes both premiere heat and trial spikes in the later window. Prime Video interleaves outside acquisitions with global pickups and small theatrical windows when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library pulls, using featured rows, Halloween hubs, and staff picks to lengthen the tail on the horror cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about originals and festival buys, timing horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two IP plays. 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 haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, retooled for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a theatrical-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas corridor to scale. That positioning has proved effective for filmmaker-first horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception warrants. Do not be surprised by 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 in parallel, using select theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchises versus originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate tips toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use household recognition. The risk, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to present each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is leading with character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-inflected take from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the assembly is known enough to drive advance ticketing and early previews.

Three-year comps announce the approach. In 2023, a exclusive window model that respected streaming windows did not stop a dual release from paying off when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror exceeded expectations in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they angle differently and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward 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 filmed in sequence, creates space for marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to hold creative in the market without lulls.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft conversations behind this year’s genre foreshadow a continued move toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that highlights texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that leans on mood over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and earns shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta reframe that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which fit with expo activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel key. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that work in PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid big-brand pushes. The month caps 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 formidable, but the mix of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

February through May load in summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can succeed 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 cycled through premium screens.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited information drops that center concept over reveals.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s artificial companion becomes something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the control dynamic reverses and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting scenario that teases the dread of a child’s inconsistent interpretations. Rating: pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A comic send-up that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 erupts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further extends again, with a fresh family bound to residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A new start designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-driven horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: not yet rated. Production: ongoing. 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-specific language and elemental fear. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three practical forces inform this lineup. First, production that eased or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become click site 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on meme-ready beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will line up across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where modest-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 capitalize on those pockets. 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates 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 austere, 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 stack through the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, smart allocations, 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 dimensionality, audio design, and camera work 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.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, guard the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.