Ancient Horror Awakens in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling feature, premiering Oct 2025 on premium platforms

One frightening paranormal suspense story from scriptwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an forgotten curse when strangers become victims in a devilish ceremony. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing account of overcoming and archaic horror that will reshape terror storytelling this fall. Brought to life by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and gothic tale follows five teens who snap to stranded in a hidden cottage under the dark will of Kyra, a mysterious girl overtaken by a time-worn holy text monster. Arm yourself to be captivated by a motion picture venture that intertwines bodily fright with biblical origins, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a legendary motif in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the demons no longer appear from elsewhere, but rather internally. This depicts the most terrifying element of the group. The result is a bone-chilling cognitive warzone where the tension becomes a ongoing battle between divinity and wickedness.


In a isolated no-man's-land, five souls find themselves marooned under the ominous sway and curse of a elusive being. As the survivors becomes unable to deny her dominion, cut off and hunted by evils mind-shattering, they are required to acknowledge their deepest fears while the doomsday meter unceasingly counts down toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease mounts and ties fracture, urging each character to contemplate their values and the notion of independent thought itself. The hazard rise with every minute, delivering a terror ride that intertwines spiritual fright with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to evoke elemental fright, an darkness born of forgotten ages, emerging via soul-level flaws, and testing a spirit that threatens selfhood when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra called for internalizing something rooted in terror. She is unseeing until the haunting manifests, and that turn is deeply unsettling because it is so raw.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that streamers anywhere can witness this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its initial teaser, which has collected over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Don’t miss this life-altering spiral into evil. Face *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these dark realities about mankind.


For behind-the-scenes access, on-set glimpses, and promotions straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror watershed moment: 2025 across markets U.S. lineup melds biblical-possession ideas, Indie Shockers, alongside returning-series thunder

From survivor-centric dread drawn from biblical myth all the way to brand-name continuations in concert with focused festival visions, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted plus deliberate year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. top-tier distributors plant stakes across the year through proven series, simultaneously premium streamers load up the fall with debut heat alongside ancestral chills. In the indie lane, horror’s indie wing is carried on the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The fall stretch is the proving field, though in this cycle, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are targeted, thus 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp starts the year with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. timed for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Guided by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner’s pipeline delivers the closing chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Though the formula is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re boards, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retrograde shiver, trauma driven plotting, along with eerie supernatural rules. Here the stakes rise, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It posts in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Plays: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No bloated canon. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The approaching chiller release year: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, as well as A stacked Calendar Built For chills

Dek The arriving terror cycle crowds right away with a January wave, after that spreads through June and July, and carrying into the year-end corridor, weaving brand equity, novel approaches, and tactical counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that position genre releases into national conversation.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has become the most reliable release in programming grids, a corner that can spike when it lands and still protect the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 signaled to top brass that mid-range horror vehicles can steer pop culture, the following year carried the beat with director-led heat and surprise hits. The upswing rolled into 2025, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is capacity for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that export nicely. The takeaway for 2026 is a run that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with strategic blocks, a spread of marquee IP and original hooks, and a refocused eye on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and streaming.

Executives say the space now behaves like a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can roll out on numerous frames, furnish a tight logline for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and outpace with viewers that show up on first-look nights and stick through the week two if the offering lands. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping demonstrates assurance in that logic. The slate starts with a crowded January lineup, then taps spring and early summer for counterweight, while leaving room for a September to October window that connects to late October and beyond. The grid also underscores the ongoing integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and broaden at the optimal moment.

A further high-level trend is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and storied titles. The players are not just greenlighting another continuation. They are working to present threaded continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a logo package that conveys a re-angled tone or a lead change that connects a upcoming film to a first wave. At the parallel to that, the creative teams behind the most anticipated originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, special makeup and distinct locales. That interplay yields the 2026 slate a confident blend of comfort and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight plays that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, marketing it as both a succession moment and a return-to-roots character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture points to a classic-referencing treatment without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign centered on legacy iconography, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt mainstream recognition through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format inviting quick redirects to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three differentiated pushes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an virtual partner that escalates into a harmful mate. The date locates it at the front of a front-loaded month, with marketing at Universal likely to renew odd public stunts and bite-size content that blurs intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s releases are presented as filmmaker events, with a mystery-first teaser and a later creative that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to fill 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, practical-first mix can feel prestige on a lean spend. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror shock that spotlights overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio lines up two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both core fans and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around canon, and creature work, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror centered on minute detail and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is favorable.

Where the platforms fit in

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that optimizes both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up momentum in the tail. Prime Video blends licensed films with cross-border buys and select theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their edges in deep cuts, using well-timed internal promotions, horror hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about originals and festival additions, securing horror entries with shorter lead times and coalescing around debuts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a two-step of limited theatrical footprints and accelerated platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to buy select projects with established auteurs or star packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation intensifies.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 corridor with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clean: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, updated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a big-screen first plan for the title, an promising marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, managing the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday dates to move out. That positioning has served the company well for auteur horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception prompts. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using boutique theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Series vs standalone

By number, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit brand equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is audience fatigue. The preferred tactic is to position each entry as a new angle. Paramount is foregrounding character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a European tilt from a ascendant talent. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the package is steady enough to spark pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps clarify the plan. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not preclude a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was compelling. In 2024, director-craft horror rose in premium formats. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can this website still feel reinvigorated when they rotate perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, enables marketing to relate entries through character and theme and to leave creative active without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The production chatter behind 2026 horror suggest a continued move toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that centers mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a preview that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and gathers shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta pivot that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature design and production design, which align with convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid headline IP. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late Q1 and spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre More about the author diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a early fall window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a slow-reveal plan and limited advance reveals that trade in concept over detail.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card redemption.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s virtual companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 abrasive boss scramble to survive on a cut-off island as the power balance reverses and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s in-camera craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting premise that interrogates the horror of a child’s shaky perceptions. Rating: forthcoming. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-built and marquee-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that pokes at navigate here today’s horror trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBD. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 global twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family anchored to residual nightmares. Rating: forthcoming. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBA. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: not yet rated. Production: underway. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and elemental dread. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why this year, why now

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that downshifted or reshuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming landings. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, 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 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first shock 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, sonics, and imagery 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 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.