Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes ancient dread, a spine tingling feature, launching October 2025 across top streaming platforms

This frightening mystic scare-fest from screenwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an age-old terror when strangers become puppets in a dark ordeal. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching story of struggle and ancient evil that will resculpt horror this Halloween season. Crafted by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and immersive feature follows five people who arise isolated in a far-off dwelling under the malignant command of Kyra, a central character dominated by a biblical-era Old Testament spirit. Get ready to be hooked by a visual experience that unites raw fear with biblical origins, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a legendary motif in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is turned on its head when the malevolences no longer emerge outside their bodies, but rather from their psyche. This depicts the most hidden version of every character. The result is a enthralling mind game where the story becomes a ongoing fight between light and darkness.


In a abandoned woodland, five youths find themselves imprisoned under the unholy effect and inhabitation of a obscure person. As the survivors becomes defenseless to break her curse, stranded and hunted by terrors beyond comprehension, they are cornered to acknowledge their core terrors while the final hour unforgivingly runs out toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia intensifies and connections collapse, pushing each protagonist to examine their true nature and the concept of free will itself. The danger escalate with every beat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that fuses supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dive into deep fear, an entity rooted in antiquity, manifesting in our weaknesses, and challenging a being that tests the soul when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra was about accessing something far beyond human desperation. She is insensitive until the control shifts, and that transformation is shocking because it is so internal.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing streamers across the world can face this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its intro video, which has received over six-figure audience.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, presenting the nightmare to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this mind-warping voyage through terror. Face *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to acknowledge these unholy truths about our species.


For cast commentary, extra content, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursed across platforms and visit the movie portal.





U.S. horror’s sea change: 2025 for genre fans U.S. release slate interlaces primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, alongside series shake-ups

Moving from endurance-driven terror grounded in scriptural legend as well as installment follow-ups in concert with focused festival visions, 2025 looks like the most variegated combined with calculated campaign year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. leading studios lock in tentpoles with familiar IP, in parallel platform operators prime the fall with discovery plays set against archetypal fear. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is riding the uplift of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, and 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with a statement play: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. dated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer eases, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re engages, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma centered writing, along with eerie supernatural rules. The stakes escalate here, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It opens in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative starring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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 is a clever angle. No bloated mythology. No franchise baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. 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.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

The Road Ahead: Autumn overload with a 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 grind for attention. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

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

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The approaching chiller season: follow-ups, Originals, And A stacked Calendar geared toward screams

Dek The arriving horror season packs right away with a January crush, subsequently unfolds through the summer months, and running into the late-year period, blending series momentum, creative pitches, and strategic alternatives. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on tight budgets, theater-first strategies, and shareable marketing that elevate these releases into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This category has established itself as the sturdy move in programming grids, a segment that can grow when it catches and still hedge the drawdown when it does not. After 2023 reassured greenlighters that lean-budget horror vehicles can drive the zeitgeist, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and word-of-mouth wins. The run pushed into 2025, where revivals and prestige plays demonstrated there is capacity for multiple flavors, from ongoing IP entries to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The upshot for 2026 is a lineup that seems notably aligned across the market, with strategic blocks, a harmony of legacy names and new packages, and a re-energized commitment on release windows that feed downstream value on premium digital rental and SVOD.

Schedulers say the genre now works like a fill-in ace on the schedule. The genre can premiere on almost any weekend, offer a quick sell for marketing and shorts, and outperform with patrons that come out on Thursday previews and stick through the subsequent weekend if the title works. Post a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 plan underscores assurance in that approach. The year begins with a thick January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a late-year stretch that pushes into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The arrangement also illustrates the deeper integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, ignite recommendations, and grow at the sweet spot.

A notable top-line trend is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and storied titles. The studios are not just mounting another chapter. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a brandmark that announces a tonal shift or a cast configuration that anchors a new entry to a first wave. At the same time, the helmers behind the top original plays are championing in-camera technique, in-camera effects and grounded locations. That combination offers the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and invention, which is what works overseas.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount fires first with two centerpiece bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a handoff and a foundation-forward character-forward chapter. Production is active in Atlanta, and the artistic posture conveys a memory-charged strategy without going over the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. A campaign is expected stacked with brand visuals, first images of characters, and a tease cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will drive broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format allowing quick adjustments to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is crisp, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that shifts into a harmful mate. The date places it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that interlaces love and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title drop to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele projects are positioned as director events, with a teaser that holds back and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The get redirected here Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal room to dominate 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy style can feel prestige on a tight budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror surge 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 sets two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a evergreen supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is calling a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both diehards and general audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build assets around lore, and creature work, elements that can boost large-format demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in meticulous craft and period speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is robust.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Digital strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run flow to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a stair-step that elevates both FOMO and platform bumps in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data backs it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library pulls, using editorial spots, horror hubs, and handpicked rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival wins, scheduling horror entries tight to release and staging as events releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with award winners or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 lane with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, elevated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a theatrical rollout for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, guiding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-first horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception supports. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using boutique theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, the 2026 slate bends toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to brand each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French sensibility from a new voice. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the team and cast is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Recent comps frame the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a day-date try from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror rose in premium screens. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they pivot perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind these films signal a continued tilt toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that centers grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a initial teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for red-band excess, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and drives shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-aware reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster work and world-building, which play well in fan conventions and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that work in PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tone spread creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s machine mate escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unstable 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 hard-edged boss claw to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power shifts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fear, anchored by Cronin’s practical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting story that filters its scares through a youth’s uncertain point of view. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-supported and name-above-title supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that needles today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 detonates, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a different family entangled with older hauntings. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBD. 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-faithful speech and elemental menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three pragmatic forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming releases. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine bite-size scare clips from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will line up across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. 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.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

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

The 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 quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two 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 chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundcraft, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.