Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

This bone-chilling supernatural horror tale from screenwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an prehistoric entity when unrelated individuals become instruments in a satanic struggle. Releasing October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of overcoming and old world terror that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this autumn. Crafted by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and cinematic feature follows five characters who emerge imprisoned in a unreachable cottage under the malevolent grip of Kyra, a female lead controlled by a two-thousand-year-old ancient fiend. Be warned to be shaken by a cinematic display that melds instinctive fear with spiritual backstory, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a iconic motif in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is turned on its head when the monsters no longer manifest beyond the self, but rather inside their minds. This represents the shadowy element of the protagonists. The result is a riveting psychological battle where the narrative becomes a brutal conflict between virtue and vice.


In a haunting terrain, five teens find themselves confined under the malevolent control and control of a secretive entity. As the survivors becomes incapable to withstand her will, severed and hunted by evils mind-shattering, they are made to reckon with their worst nightmares while the doomsday meter mercilessly strikes toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion intensifies and associations dissolve, coercing each survivor to evaluate their values and the integrity of autonomy itself. The stakes amplify with every passing moment, delivering a frightening tale that integrates occult fear with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to extract primal fear, an curse that predates humanity, manipulating psychological breaks, and wrestling with a power that erodes the self when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra needed manifesting something more primal than sorrow. She is in denial until the spirit seizes her, and that turn is eerie because it is so private.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for worldwide release beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that subscribers everywhere can get immersed in this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has garnered over notable views.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, exporting the fear to a global viewership.


Experience this soul-jarring fall into madness. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this launch day to experience these dark realities about inner darkness.


For film updates, set experiences, and insider scoops from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursed across online outlets and visit our horror hub.





American horror’s Turning Point: 2025 for genre fans American release plan fuses ancient-possession motifs, art-house nightmares, paired with tentpole growls

Across life-or-death fear drawn from mythic scripture to returning series plus surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as the most dimensioned in tandem with tactically planned year of the last decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. top-tier distributors are anchoring the year through proven series, in parallel OTT services flood the fall with unboxed visions paired with old-world menace. On the festival side, indie storytellers is carried on the tailwinds of a banner 2024 fest year. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The fall stretch is the proving field, notably this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are targeted, hence 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal camp begins the calendar with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in a clear present-tense world. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly 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 delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Eli Craig directs featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

By late summer, Warner’s schedule releases the last chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retrograde shiver, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The next entry deepens the tale, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

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

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend starring Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, 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. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 reads as sharp positioning. No overweight mythology. No series drag. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror swings back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 spook slate: Sequels, fresh concepts, in tandem with A Crowded Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek: The fresh terror cycle builds immediately with a January wave, from there flows through the summer months, and far into the winter holidays, blending legacy muscle, fresh ideas, and strategic counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are focusing on mid-range economics, theatrical leads, and shareable marketing that pivot these pictures into national conversation.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has turned into the dependable tool in studio slates, a category that can accelerate when it resonates and still buffer the drawdown when it falls short. After 2023 re-taught leaders that lean-budget genre plays can own cultural conversation, 2024 maintained heat with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The run fed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers showed there is demand for a variety of tones, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that travel well. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a grid that shows rare alignment across distributors, with strategic blocks, a pairing of legacy names and fresh ideas, and a refocused stance on exclusive windows that enhance post-theatrical value on paid VOD and digital services.

Planners observe the horror lane now slots in as a swing piece on the schedule. Horror can roll out on a wide range of weekends, generate a easy sell for teasers and short-form placements, and overperform with demo groups that show up on preview nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the movie satisfies. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 pattern telegraphs conviction in that approach. The year starts with a heavy January lineup, then primes spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a fall corridor that connects to the fright window and into the next week. The layout also features the tightening integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can platform a title, ignite recommendations, and go nationwide at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is brand management across connected story worlds and storied titles. Studio teams are not just turning out another entry. They are aiming to frame threaded continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a brandmark that announces a recalibrated tone or a casting choice that connects a new entry to a vintage era. At the same time, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are championing on-set craft, special makeup and vivid settings. That convergence offers 2026 a robust balance of recognition and freshness, which is how the films export.

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

Paramount fires first with two headline projects that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, setting it up as both a passing of the torch and a rootsy character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach indicates a legacy-leaning treatment without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. A campaign is expected built on brand visuals, early character teases, and a two-beat trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for weblink the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will lean on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will pursue wide appeal through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is elegant, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man installs an intelligent companion that evolves into a deadly partner. The date locates it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to iterate on viral uncanny stunts and bite-size content that hybridizes companionship and foreboding.

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

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele titles are treated as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that reveals little and a later creative that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor allows Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has made clear that a tactile, makeup-driven style can feel big on a moderate cost. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror shot that emphasizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio launches two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, keeping a evergreen supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is calling a new foundation 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 players and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around universe detail, and creature builds, elements that can lift premium format interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by textural authenticity and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already locked the day for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is positive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre slate land on copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a sequence that fortifies both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the back half. Prime Video interleaves catalogue additions with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, October hubs, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival acquisitions, locking in horror entries closer to launch and turning into events rollouts with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a paired of targeted cinema placements and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly activity when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 sequence with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is uncomplicated: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, refined for modern mix and grade. 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 flagged a theatrical-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has worked well for director-led genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Be ready for 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 jointly, using targeted theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Legacy titles versus originals

By share, the 2026 slate skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit name recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. More about the author Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the configuration is steady enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Recent-year comps frame the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept clean windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from succeeding when the brand was potent. In 2024, auteur craft horror exceeded expectations in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they rotate perspective and widen scale. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot in tandem, provides the means for marketing to thread films through character web and themes and to keep assets alive without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The craft conversations behind the year’s horror hint at a continued shift toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that elevates mood and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft features before rolling out a tone piece that keeps plot minimal, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and earns shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta recalibration that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which are ideal for fan conventions and managed asset releases. Insidious tends great post to read to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that sing on PLF.

Annual flow

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 brooding contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month closes 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 meaningful, but the tone spread opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late Q1 and spring seed summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can win 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 shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a early fall window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a slow-reveal plan and limited plot reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s digital partner unfolds into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her prickly boss battle to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to dread, shaped by Cronin’s hands-on craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting tale that teases the unease of a child’s mercurial perspective. Rating: forthcoming. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural 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 send-up revival that targets hot-button genre motifs and true-crime manias. Rating: pending. Production: production booked for fall 2025. 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 surges, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new household tethered to ancient dread. Rating: to be announced. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for pure survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 antique diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a big-screen run before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that decelerated or shifted in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

There is also the slotting calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, 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 like the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundscape, 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, Ready To Roar

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.