Age-old Dread Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on major platforms

An bone-chilling occult scare-fest from narrative craftsman / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an age-old force when foreigners become victims in a malevolent trial. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching journey of perseverance and prehistoric entity that will redefine fear-driven cinema this fall. Helmed by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and tone-heavy screenplay follows five young adults who regain consciousness isolated in a off-grid shelter under the dark dominion of Kyra, a possessed female overtaken by a ancient scriptural evil. Anticipate to be seized by a cinematic outing that weaves together gut-punch terror with legendary tales, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a historical tradition in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is twisted when the dark entities no longer originate from an outside force, but rather from deep inside. This illustrates the grimmest dimension of the protagonists. The result is a relentless internal warfare where the events becomes a soul-crushing fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a unforgiving terrain, five teens find themselves cornered under the fiendish control and possession of a enigmatic apparition. As the team becomes helpless to escape her control, exiled and tracked by terrors unimaginable, they are forced to wrestle with their deepest fears while the moments without pity counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and links fracture, driving each member to evaluate their character and the foundation of decision-making itself. The pressure escalate with every heartbeat, delivering a nightmarish journey that blends otherworldly panic with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to dive into primitive panic, an spirit that existed before mankind, manifesting in soul-level flaws, and wrestling with a will that threatens selfhood when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra required summoning something more primal than sorrow. She is unaware until the takeover begins, and that pivot is deeply unsettling because it is so close.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for audience access beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving watchers globally can dive into this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first preview, which has racked up over a viral response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, taking the terror to international horror buffs.


Don’t miss this haunted exploration of dread. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to witness these chilling revelations about our species.


For sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and reveals from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across entertainment pages and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror watershed moment: the 2025 cycle American release plan blends myth-forward possession, underground frights, set against franchise surges

Spanning survivor-centric dread grounded in primordial scripture and extending to series comebacks in concert with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the richest plus strategic year for the modern era.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Top studios lock in tentpoles through proven series, simultaneously platform operators prime the fall with discovery plays alongside ancestral chills. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is propelled by the momentum from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are calculated, therefore 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige terror resurfaces

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp opens the year with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the tone that worked before is intact: period tinged dread, trauma centered writing, and a cold supernatural calculus. This pass pushes higher, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, bridging teens and legacy players. It bows in December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Plays: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director 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 the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. 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. That is a savvy move. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

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

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to 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 Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

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

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The new spook year to come: installments, original films, paired with A brimming Calendar tailored for nightmares

Dek: The new scare year crowds from day one with a January pile-up, before it extends through the warm months, and pushing into the festive period, marrying legacy muscle, untold stories, and well-timed calendar placement. Studios with streamers are focusing on cost discipline, theater-first strategies, and social-driven marketing that convert the slate’s entries into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror marketplace has become the most reliable release in studio slates, a genre that can grow when it clicks and still buffer the drawdown when it underperforms. After 2023 reconfirmed for strategy teams that low-to-mid budget genre plays can command social chatter, the following year kept energy high with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The trend fed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and premium-leaning entries made clear there is a lane for diverse approaches, from continued chapters to original one-offs that resonate abroad. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a schedule that seems notably aligned across distributors, with obvious clusters, a balance of recognizable IP and new concepts, and a revived commitment on cinema windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital and subscription services.

Insiders argue the category now functions as a flex slot on the distribution slate. Horror can debut on almost any weekend, deliver a easy sell for trailers and reels, and outstrip with demo groups that arrive on advance nights and stick through the sophomore frame if the film connects. In the wake of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 setup signals comfort in that approach. The calendar gets underway with a busy January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for balance, while making space for a October build that pushes into the fright window and past Halloween. The map also underscores the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and streaming partners that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and grow at the right moment.

A parallel macro theme is brand curation across connected story worlds and long-running brands. The studios are not just rolling another entry. They are shaping as connection with a specialness, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a reframed mood or a casting pivot that ties a latest entry to a early run. At the concurrently, the auteurs behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing in-camera technique, on-set effects and specific settings. That convergence delivers 2026 a strong blend of familiarity and newness, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount sets the tone early with two front-of-slate titles that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach indicates a heritage-honoring mode without repeating the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave stacked with heritage visuals, first images of characters, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will chase general-audience talk through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick switches to whatever defines the conversation that spring.

Universal has three distinct projects. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is elegant, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an intelligent companion that evolves into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to renew strange in-person beats and snackable content that interlaces companionship and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a title reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the early tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s releases are framed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting teaser and a second wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-October frame affords Universal to saturate 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has proven that a gnarly, hands-on effects mix can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a hard-R summer horror surge that emphasizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, sustaining a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is imp source presenting as a ground-zero restart 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 charge to serve both diehards and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build marketing units around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can drive large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by immersive craft and period language, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run shift to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a stair-step that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up momentum in the post-theatrical. Prime Video combines licensed content with global acquisitions and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using in-app campaigns, October hubs, and staff picks to prolong the run on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival grabs, locking in horror entries toward the drop and positioning as event drops rollouts with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase 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 spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 pipeline with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is uncomplicated: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, recalibrated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to expand. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-first horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception encourages. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using precision theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By tilt, 2026 leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is audience fatigue. The operating solution is to market each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is underscoring character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-accented approach from a new voice. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is assuring enough to drive advance ticketing and preview-night crowds.

Recent comps frame the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept clean windows did not prevent a simultaneous release test from paying off when the brand was trusted. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror surged in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they shift POV and expand the canvas. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through relationships and themes and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films suggest a continued preference for material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates mood and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster work and world-building, which align with convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel must-have. Look for trailers that accent disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that play in premium auditoriums.

How the year maps out

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 marquee brands. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the tone spread carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late winter and spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that horror are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows my review here September 18, a shoulder season window 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 minimalist tease strategy 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 leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card use.

Film-by-film briefs

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 reorients around 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 sorrowing man’s intelligent companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 difficult boss scramble to survive on a lonely island as the control balance flips and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s in-camera craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting tale that explores the chill of a child’s shaky perceptions. Rating: TBD. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-scale and headline-actor led paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A parody return that pokes at modern genre fads and true-crime buzz. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing scheduled 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 spreads, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family snared by past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 fear. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the moment is 2026

Three hands-on forces shape this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and leaner schedules. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate meme-ready beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 lean-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 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, disciplined footprints, 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 detail, sonics, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.