Age-old Terror rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling horror feature, landing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

An unnerving metaphysical thriller from writer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an forgotten dread when drifters become tools in a supernatural experiment. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of living through and old world terror that will remodel fear-driven cinema this October. Helmed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive thriller follows five unknowns who are stirred sealed in a remote cabin under the sinister sway of Kyra, a tormented girl overtaken by a prehistoric biblical force. Steel yourself to be drawn in by a theatrical presentation that fuses visceral dread with mystical narratives, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a recurring foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reimagined when the beings no longer descend from beyond, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the most terrifying facet of the victims. The result is a gripping inner struggle where the suspense becomes a unyielding fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a wilderness-stricken wild, five characters find themselves contained under the ominous aura and grasp of a haunted figure. As the cast becomes helpless to evade her power, detached and chased by unknowns ungraspable, they are confronted to reckon with their worst nightmares while the clock harrowingly moves toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear swells and connections dissolve, compelling each soul to reflect on their identity and the notion of conscious will itself. The stakes surge with every beat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that merges ghostly evil with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to extract core terror, an evil beyond time, influencing fragile psyche, and exposing a entity that strips down our being when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant channeling something rooted in terror. She is clueless until the takeover begins, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so close.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering audiences no matter where they are can get immersed in this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has pulled in over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, giving access to the movie to fans of fear everywhere.


Be sure to catch this bone-rattling exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to experience these ghostly lessons about the mind.


For teasers, production news, and reveals from the creators, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit the official website.





American horror’s major pivot: 2025 for genre fans U.S. Slate blends primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, in parallel with Franchise Rumbles

Running from pressure-cooker survival tales suffused with biblical myth to installment follow-ups as well as pointed art-house angles, 2025 appears poised to be the most textured and precision-timed year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. major banners lay down anchors through proven series, in parallel streamers front-load the fall with debut heat as well as primordial unease. On the festival side, the artisan tier is riding the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The fall stretch is the proving field, and now, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are precise, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: High-craft horror returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 accelerates.

Universal Pictures begins the calendar with a risk-forward move: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, the Warner Bros. banner sets loose the finale from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma explicitly handled, and a cold supernatural calculus. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The return delves further into myth, grows the animatronic horror lineup, speaking to teens and older millennials. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Slim budgets, major punch

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror duet featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

One more platform talker 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. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and helmed 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped 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 puffed out backstory. No legacy baggage. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Projection: Fall saturation and a winter joker

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The new spook year to come: next chapters, new stories, alongside A stacked Calendar optimized for Scares

Dek: The incoming horror season stacks early with a January logjam, following that runs through summer, and pushing into the holiday frame, combining IP strength, new voices, and strategic calendar placement. Studios and streamers are betting on right-sized spends, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that elevate these releases into mainstream chatter.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has turned into the steady tool in release plans, a segment that can break out when it connects and still protect the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 showed executives that disciplined-budget pictures can command the discourse, the following year continued the surge with festival-darling auteurs and quiet over-performers. The run moved into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles confirmed there is room for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to original features that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a roster that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with defined corridors, a harmony of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a revived emphasis on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on PVOD and streaming.

Studio leaders note the space now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can launch on nearly any frame, provide a quick sell for marketing and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with moviegoers that respond on Thursday previews and sustain through the second frame if the offering connects. Coming out of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 cadence underscores belief in that engine. The slate kicks off with a loaded January window, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while carving room for a fall corridor that pushes into the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The gridline also spotlights the continuing integration of indie arms and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, build word of mouth, and expand at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and storied titles. Big banners are not just producing another installment. They are aiming to frame continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that announces a new tone or a cast configuration that anchors a next film to a vintage era. At the alongside this, the directors behind the marquee originals are prioritizing tactile craft, practical gags and location-forward worlds. That alloy gives 2026 a solid mix of brand comfort and novelty, which is how the films export.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate titles that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a origin-leaning character-centered film. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a memory-charged strategy without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Plan for a rollout anchored in brand visuals, first images of characters, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will build broad awareness through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is efficient, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an AI companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date lines it up at the front of a thick month, with marketing at Universal likely to renew odd public stunts and short-cut promos that interweaves love and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a name unveil to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are framed as marquee events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to maximize 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy style can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a red-band summer horror shot that leans into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is describing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both loyalists and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and creature design, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by rigorous craft and period language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles land on copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a stair-step that enhances both initial urgency and subscriber lifts in the back half. Prime Video blends catalogue additions with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about originals and festival wins, confirming horror entries near their drops and framing as events drops with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a staged of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that translates talk to trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a per-project basis. The platform has been willing to invest in select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for sustained usage when the genre conversation builds.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track 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 offer is uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has served the company well for director-led genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception justifies. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage name recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The practical approach is to position each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is grounded enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years frame the plan. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept streaming intact did not prevent a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they pivot perspective and increase ambition. 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 shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without doldrums.

How the films are being made

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 entries foreshadow a continued bias toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that centers mood and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a icy, More about the author primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft features before rolling out a teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which lend themselves to convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that accent hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in big rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is loaded. 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 somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the tone spread makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card spend.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s artificial companion evolves into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: atmospheric 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 abrasive boss battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, anchored by Cronin’s hands-on craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that channels the fear through a preteen’s uneven internal vantage. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, see here with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that skewers contemporary horror memes and true crime fervors. Rating: undetermined. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. 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 of Deadites spreads, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family anchored to long-buried horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-core horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. 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 period-precise speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming launches. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will jostle across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where value-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 maximize those pockets. 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, 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 flow and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, 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 build month to month, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand power where it counts, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.