Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons antediluvian malevolence, a chilling shocker, debuting Oct 2025 on global platforms

This unnerving metaphysical thriller from screenwriter / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an primordial entity when unrelated individuals become tokens in a diabolical ritual. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish episode of staying alive and primeval wickedness that will alter fear-driven cinema this ghoul season. Crafted by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and claustrophobic film follows five people who emerge isolated in a cut-off structure under the ominous sway of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a biblical-era scriptural evil. Arm yourself to be shaken by a narrative venture that intertwines soul-chilling terror with ancient myths, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a historical theme in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is redefined when the monsters no longer arise from an outside force, but rather inside their minds. This symbolizes the grimmest dimension of the players. The result is a gripping mind game where the intensity becomes a merciless contest between light and darkness.


In a unforgiving forest, five souls find themselves contained under the ghastly sway and curse of a elusive figure. As the team becomes paralyzed to oppose her rule, marooned and followed by spirits unnamable, they are confronted to face their core terrors while the doomsday meter harrowingly ticks onward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion grows and links splinter, coercing each person to contemplate their character and the concept of conscious will itself. The stakes rise with every passing moment, delivering a paranormal ride that merges otherworldly panic with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to uncover raw dread, an evil beyond recorded history, manipulating emotional vulnerability, and highlighting a curse that questions who we are when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra asked for exploring something beneath mortal despair. She is unseeing until the entity awakens, and that transformation is emotionally raw because it is so private.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for horror fans beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring watchers globally can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over notable views.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, delivering the story to scare fans abroad.


Avoid skipping this visceral exploration of dread. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to survive these ghostly lessons about our species.


For cast commentary, production insights, and alerts straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across media channels and visit the official movie site.





The horror genre’s tipping point: 2025 U.S. calendar melds primeval-possession lore, art-house nightmares, set against legacy-brand quakes

Beginning with last-stand terror inspired by scriptural legend as well as IP renewals together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted together with deliberate year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. top-tier distributors lock in tentpoles with known properties, concurrently platform operators load up the fall with new voices alongside mythic dread. In parallel, independent banners is fueled by the momentum from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, and now, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are targeted, so 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures begins the calendar with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. dated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

By late summer, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

After that, The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson resumes command, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: 70s style chill, trauma as theme, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The next entry deepens the tale, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It arrives in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a close quarters body horror study pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it looks like a certain fall stream.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story featuring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Conceived 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No overstuffed canon. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

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

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Franchise Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, guided by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Emerging Currents

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror comes roaring back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival glow translates to 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 release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Forecast: 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. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The approaching genre calendar year ahead: entries, filmmaker-first projects, in tandem with A busy Calendar Built For chills

Dek The new terror cycle crams from the jump with a January traffic jam, from there stretches through the summer months, and straight through the year-end corridor, marrying name recognition, fresh ideas, and data-minded counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are relying on smart costs, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that position these offerings into national conversation.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the most reliable option in release plans, a vertical that can spike when it clicks and still limit the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 re-taught buyers that cost-conscious chillers can shape audience talk, 2024 carried the beat with festival-darling auteurs and unexpected risers. The carry translated to the 2025 frame, where revived properties and prestige plays underscored there is demand for varied styles, from continued chapters to director-led originals that play globally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across the major shops, with mapped-out bands, a balance of household franchises and original hooks, and a recommitted eye on box-office windows that increase tail monetization on PVOD and OTT platforms.

Insiders argue the horror lane now operates like a versatile piece on the release plan. The genre can arrive on most weekends, deliver a clear pitch for previews and TikTok spots, and over-index with ticket buyers that show up on early shows and return through the second frame if the movie pays off. In the wake of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 pattern underscores trust in that playbook. The slate starts with a crowded January window, then plants flags in spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a fall corridor that pushes into the Halloween frame and into post-Halloween. The arrangement also highlights the increasing integration of specialized labels and streamers that can platform and widen, ignite recommendations, and grow at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across interlocking continuities and classic IP. The players are not just pushing another return. They are trying to present threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a logo package that flags a refreshed voice or a casting move that threads a fresh chapter to a first wave. At the same time, the helmers behind the marquee originals are prioritizing on-set craft, in-camera effects and location-forward worlds. That pairing produces 2026 a solid mix of recognition and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount leads early with two headline releases that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, setting it up as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character-first story. Production is active in Atlanta, and the authorial approach conveys a classic-referencing campaign without recycling the last two entries’ family thread. Look for a marketing run built on heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a staggered trailer plan slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will play up. As a summer relief option, this one will build broad awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever leads horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tidy, grief-rooted, and big-hook: a grieving man installs an intelligent companion that grows into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back uncanny-valley stunts and short-cut promos that hybridizes intimacy and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a official title to become an PR pop closer to the debut look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s work are sold as filmmaker events, with a hinting teaser and a follow-up trailer set that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot gives the studio room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning mix can feel deluxe on a tight budget. Position this as a red-band summer horror charge that maximizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio lines up two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has repositioned 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 reboots in what Sony is marketing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign creative around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can drive large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus Features has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is supportive.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s horror titles shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a structure that fortifies both premiere heat and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video balances acquired titles with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data points to it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using featured rows, holiday hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about original films and festival grabs, slotting horror entries near their drops and eventizing debuts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a two-step of limited theatrical footprints and rapid platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a selective basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with accomplished filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is uncomplicated: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, elevated for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a standard theatrical run for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the back half.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to expand. That positioning has delivered for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception justifies. Expect 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 concert, using precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, the 2026 slate bends toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate legacy awareness. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is foregrounding character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the cast-creatives package is steady enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night crowds.

Three-year comps make sense of the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that respected streaming windows did not prevent a simultaneous release test from succeeding when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel new when they angle differently and increase ambition. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to cross-link entries through personae and themes and to continue assets in field without dead zones.

Production craft signals

The creative meetings behind the 2026 entries suggest a continued lean toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to con floor moments and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that spotlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is stacked. 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 somber counterpoint amid heftier brand moves. The month winds down 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 formidable, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Winter into spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can connect 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 rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a peekaboo tease plan and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can win the holiday when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 demanding boss battle to survive on a cut-off island as the power balance of power tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to fright, founded on Cronin’s material craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting tale that threads the dread through a youth’s volatile inner lens. Rating: pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that riffs on current genre trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites erupts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family bound to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survivalist horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 time-true diction and elemental menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces define this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will trade weekends across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sonics, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York Check This Out and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand heft where it matters, new vision where it lands, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.