Primordial Horror stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, streaming October 2025 on top streamers

This bone-chilling supernatural suspense film from dramatist / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an mythic entity when drifters become tokens in a dark ceremony. Going live on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking chronicle of resilience and archaic horror that will reimagine the fear genre this harvest season. Realized by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and claustrophobic thriller follows five lost souls who arise confined in a wilderness-bound shelter under the aggressive power of Kyra, a young woman dominated by a timeless Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be seized by a filmic presentation that integrates deep-seated panic with ancestral stories, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a well-established theme in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is subverted when the forces no longer descend from a different plane, but rather through their own souls. This symbolizes the malevolent part of the group. The result is a edge-of-seat emotional conflict where the events becomes a ongoing confrontation between purity and corruption.


In a desolate forest, five friends find themselves confined under the malicious effect and overtake of a shadowy being. As the victims becomes helpless to resist her power, severed and chased by presences indescribable, they are driven to wrestle with their darkest emotions while the timeline relentlessly pushes forward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion mounts and alliances fracture, demanding each participant to contemplate their being and the foundation of autonomy itself. The hazard rise with every minute, delivering a horror experience that weaves together ghostly evil with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to evoke raw dread, an entity from ancient eras, manifesting in our fears, and examining a will that redefines identity when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra demanded embodying something unfamiliar to reason. She is oblivious until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is gut-wrenching because it is so emotional.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing users across the world can survive this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its original clip, which has garnered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Make sure to see this mind-warping voyage through terror. Join *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to witness these fearful discoveries about the human condition.


For previews, on-set glimpses, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit our spooky domain.





The horror genre’s sea change: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup Mixes ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, plus Franchise Rumbles

From endurance-driven terror rooted in scriptural legend and including canon extensions alongside surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as the most variegated together with carefully orchestrated year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios set cornerstones with familiar IP, concurrently subscription platforms front-load the fall with discovery plays paired with archetypal fear. On the independent axis, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. Since Halloween is the prized date, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are precise, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Guided by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

Toward summer’s end, the WB camp launches the swan song from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: old school creep, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. This time, the stakes are raised, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It opens in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a close quarters body horror study including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend starring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 bloated canon. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

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

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror ascends again
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The approaching chiller slate: entries, fresh concepts, alongside A brimming Calendar aimed at shocks

Dek The new terror calendar clusters at the outset with a January glut, from there runs through the warm months, and continuing into the festive period, marrying brand equity, new voices, and tactical counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are relying on cost discipline, theatrical leads, and shareable marketing that pivot genre titles into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

This space has grown into the sturdy counterweight in studio lineups, a category that can expand when it lands and still hedge the exposure when it falls short. After 2023 reminded executives that modestly budgeted scare machines can galvanize mainstream conversation, the following year continued the surge with festival-darling auteurs and word-of-mouth wins. The head of steam carried into the 2025 frame, where returns and awards-minded projects highlighted there is demand for different modes, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that play globally. The net effect for 2026 is a roster that seems notably aligned across the field, with mapped-out bands, a balance of legacy names and first-time concepts, and a recommitted commitment on big-screen windows that increase tail monetization on PVOD and SVOD.

Marketers add the category now performs as a utility player on the grid. Horror can launch on most weekends, furnish a grabby hook for marketing and vertical videos, and outstrip with ticket buyers that appear on Thursday previews and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the entry hits. Exiting a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence signals confidence in that equation. The year opens with a crowded January window, then targets spring into early summer for contrast, while reserving space for a late-year stretch that pushes into the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The grid also underscores the tightening integration of specialized imprints and OTT outlets that can platform a title, generate chatter, and roll out at the optimal moment.

A reinforcing pattern is brand management across linked properties and storied titles. Studio teams are not just turning out another installment. They are looking to package lore continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title treatment that signals a new tone or a casting choice that links a fresh chapter to a foundational era. At the very same time, the filmmakers behind the most watched originals are embracing tactile craft, special makeup and vivid settings. That fusion yields the 2026 slate a lively combination of familiarity and invention, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount marks the early tempo with two marquee projects that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the center, marketing it as both a lineage transfer and a origin-leaning relationship-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach telegraphs a memory-charged treatment without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign leaning on franchise iconography, character spotlights, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after broad awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick updates to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three specific projects. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is clean, somber, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man installs an algorithmic mate that evolves into a harmful mate. The date slots it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s campaign likely to echo creepy live activations and short-form creative that fuses intimacy and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a official title to become an marketing beat closer to the initial promo. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s releases are marketed as filmmaker events, with a concept-forward tease and a later creative that signal tone without plot the concept. The spooky-season slot gives the studio room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has demonstrated that a in-your-face, in-camera leaning treatment can feel cinematic on a moderate cost. Expect a red-band summer horror jolt that leans hard into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio lines up two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, keeping a reliable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is selling as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both core fans and novices. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build artifacts around lore, and creature design, elements that can stoke premium booking interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by meticulous craft and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus’s team has already locked the day for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is glowing.

Platform lanes and windowing

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre entries transition to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a tiered path that enhances both week-one demand and viewer acquisition in the later phase. Prime Video combines outside acquisitions with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in catalog discovery, using featured rows, horror hubs, and editorial rows to keep attention on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events releases with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a paired of focused cinema runs and speedy platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has signaled readiness to secure select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for platform stickiness when the genre conversation swells.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 sequence 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 promise is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled 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 announced a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the late stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday corridor to move out. That positioning has been successful for craft-driven horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception merits. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using precision theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Known brands versus new stories

By skew, the 2026 slate skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate household recognition. The caveat, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is spotlighting character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French sensibility from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the assembly is assuring enough to spark pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that observed windows did not hamper a dual release from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through character web and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without pause points.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind this year’s genre point to a continued turn toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds atmosphere and fear rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft features before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature design and production design, which play well in convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

Annual flow

January is heavy. 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 foggy reset amid heavier IP. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Early-year through spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a bridge slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited advance reveals that favor idea over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion escalates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 prickly boss try to survive on a remote island as the chain of command inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fear, based on Cronin’s material craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 in-home haunting setup that refracts terror through a youngster’s uncertain inner lens. Rating: pending. Production: post-ready. 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 reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that riffs on today’s horror trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation navigate here of Deadites spreads, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a another family entangled with returning horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survivalist horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: continuing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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-accurate language and elemental fear. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces define this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly 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 releases. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will compete 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 capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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 broad premium screen use 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 sleeper overperformer 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, 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 pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, aural design, and visual design 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, Lined Up To Scare

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.