Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a hair raising chiller, streaming October 2025 across leading streamers

One terrifying paranormal nightmare movie from dramatist / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an primordial evil when guests become pawns in a hellish experiment. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful journey of continuance and mythic evil that will remodel terror storytelling this October. Helmed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and emotionally thick screenplay follows five figures who regain consciousness stranded in a far-off lodge under the aggressive control of Kyra, a haunted figure dominated by a prehistoric Old Testament spirit. Ready yourself to be drawn in by a big screen outing that fuses soul-chilling terror with legendary tales, premiering on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a recurring narrative in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is turned on its head when the entities no longer emerge externally, but rather internally. This marks the grimmest side of all involved. The result is a harrowing internal warfare where the intensity becomes a perpetual conflict between good and evil.


In a isolated backcountry, five adults find themselves sealed under the dark force and curse of a elusive spirit. As the companions becomes submissive to break her power, detached and pursued by evils ungraspable, they are required to acknowledge their inner demons while the final hour harrowingly ticks toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease amplifies and associations fracture, forcing each individual to examine their being and the notion of freedom of choice itself. The cost rise with every tick, delivering a chilling narrative that harmonizes otherworldly panic with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dive into core terror, an curse born of forgotten ages, feeding on soul-level flaws, and confronting a evil that forces self-examination when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is in denial until the curse activates, and that conversion is eerie because it is so unshielded.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be available for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving households no matter where they are can experience this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has earned over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, delivering the story to viewers around the world.


Avoid skipping this bone-rattling path of possession. Experience *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to explore these unholy truths about human nature.


For previews, production news, and updates from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across social media and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s watershed moment: 2025 U.S. release slate blends archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, in parallel with series shake-ups

Across endurance-driven terror drawn from legendary theology as well as franchise returns as well as pointed art-house angles, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted as well as intentionally scheduled year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios lock in tentpoles with known properties, as SVOD players front-load the fall with unboxed visions paired with ancestral chills. On the festival side, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the base, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner sets the tone with a marquee bet: a reimagined Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. arriving 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 brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Steered by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer tapers, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Next is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma as text, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The next entry deepens the tale, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It drops in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

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. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is canny scheduling. No puffed out backstory. No IP hangover. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots 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.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trends to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
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 exclusives sharpen their bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

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

Big screen 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 keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

The Road Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

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



The new terror season: returning titles, universe starters, as well as A jammed Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek The arriving horror season packs up front with a January wave, thereafter extends through summer, and pushing into the festive period, blending marquee clout, original angles, and tactical offsets. Studios and streamers are betting on cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that transform these releases into cross-demo moments.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

This space has solidified as the bankable option in annual schedules, a corner that can lift when it clicks and still safeguard the liability when it under-delivers. After 2023 proved to studio brass that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 held pace with director-led heat and surprise hits. The run translated to 2025, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers proved there is demand for a variety of tones, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that travel well. The sum for the 2026 slate is a run that is strikingly coherent across companies, with mapped-out bands, a spread of familiar brands and novel angles, and a tightened attention on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Schedulers say the horror lane now acts as a wildcard on the release plan. Horror can bow on virtually any date, deliver a clear pitch for previews and short-form placements, and over-index with demo groups that appear on previews Thursday and stick through the next weekend if the film pays off. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 mapping demonstrates belief in that dynamic. The year gets underway with a front-loaded January corridor, then primes spring and early summer for contrast, while leaving room for a September to October window that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The schedule also features the expanded integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, build word of mouth, and expand at the timely point.

A companion trend is legacy care across brand ecosystems and legacy franchises. Studios are not just releasing another return. They are setting up lore continuity with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that announces a recalibrated tone or a casting move that binds a next entry to a original cycle. At the same time, the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into on-set craft, on-set effects and distinct locales. That alloy provides 2026 a solid mix of familiarity and unexpected turns, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount sets the tone early with two centerpiece pushes that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a handoff and a foundation-forward relationship-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture signals a legacy-leaning angle without replaying the last two entries’ sisters thread. Watch for a push stacked with recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will hunt general-audience talk through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format allowing quick reframes to whatever defines trend lines that spring.

Universal has three discrete pushes. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is straightforward, tragic, and big-hook: a grieving man activates an digital partner that unfolds into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to echo off-kilter promo beats and brief clips that hybridizes love and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a final title to become an headline beat closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s releases are framed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-month date lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel premium on a mid-range budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror hit that maximizes global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio mounts two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is calling a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both devotees and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build promo materials around environmental design, and monster design, elements that can fuel premium format interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by immersive craft and dialect, this time set against lycan legends. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is warm.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on known playbooks. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a ladder that fortifies both premiere heat and trial spikes in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances catalogue additions with world buys and limited cinema engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in catalog discovery, using timely promos, fright rows, and editorial rows to sustain interest on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about internal projects and festival grabs, securing horror entries near launch and staging as events releases with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a selective basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to buy select projects with top-tier auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for sustained usage when the genre conversation ramps.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 pipeline 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 gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, modernized for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the year-end corridor to go wider. That positioning has paid off for auteur horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception merits. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By count, 2026 tilts in favor of the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap marquee value. The challenge, as ever, news is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to present each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a European tilt from a hot helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-driven titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the configuration is anchored enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Three-year comps frame the approach. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that respected streaming windows did not stop a same-day experiment from paying off when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror outperformed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they alter lens and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, lets marketing to bridge entries through cast and motif and to keep assets alive without dead zones.

How the look and feel evolve

The production chatter behind the year’s horror point to a continued preference for physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that highlights aura and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in trade spotlights and craft coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and earns shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta inflection that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which fit with booth activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel key. Look for trailers that highlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that explode in larger rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is stacked. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid headline IP. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Early-year through spring seed summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps 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 presents red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late-season stretch leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a transitional slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited disclosures that prioritize concept over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to Young & Cursed keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s intelligent companion evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone great post to read 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 isolated island as the control balance turns and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting premise that manipulates the horror of a child’s fragile perceptions. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-grade and name-above-title supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that satirizes hot-button genre motifs and true-crime obsessions. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 bursts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new family linked to past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: moving forward. 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 historical diction and elemental menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces inform this lineup. First, production that paused or rearranged in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more structured 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 launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, freeing space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make hay in 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 budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers 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 rhythm and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, and camera work 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.