Antediluvian Dread Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 across top streaming platforms

An haunting occult horror tale from literary architect / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an timeless nightmare when guests become puppets in a hellish game. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing episode of overcoming and age-old darkness that will alter fear-driven cinema this autumn. Realized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and claustrophobic film follows five unknowns who come to ensnared in a far-off cabin under the sinister sway of Kyra, a young woman claimed by a 2,000-year-old biblical force. Brace yourself to be captivated by a theatrical outing that integrates deep-seated panic with legendary tales, unleashing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a long-standing element in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is radically shifted when the spirits no longer arise beyond the self, but rather from deep inside. This mirrors the malevolent version of the victims. The result is a edge-of-seat identity crisis where the narrative becomes a brutal struggle between virtue and vice.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five friends find themselves caught under the possessive rule and curse of a unidentified apparition. As the youths becomes incapacitated to deny her dominion, isolated and preyed upon by evils unfathomable, they are made to endure their raw vulnerabilities while the time brutally counts down toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust surges and connections dissolve, pushing each soul to reconsider their identity and the foundation of self-determination itself. The threat climb with every short lapse, delivering a scare-fueled ride that weaves together ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken raw dread, an spirit from prehistory, filtering through human fragility, and challenging a power that challenges autonomy when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra demanded embodying something far beyond human desperation. She is insensitive until the demon emerges, and that conversion is eerie because it is so close.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be available for viewing beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that fans no matter where they are can witness this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its original promo, which has received over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, bringing the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Experience this cinematic path of possession. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these spiritual awakenings about mankind.


For bonus footage, production news, and reveals directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





Horror’s inflection point: 2025 American release plan weaves myth-forward possession, microbudget gut-punches, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Kicking off with life-or-death fear grounded in biblical myth through to series comebacks plus acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted and tactically planned year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. major banners bookend the months with franchise anchors, while subscription platforms pack the fall with emerging auteurs as well as legend-coded dread. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is surfing the afterglow of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween stays the prime week, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A fat September–October lane is customary now, but this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are calculated, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige fear returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 accelerates.

Universal kicks off the frame with a big gambit: a refashioned Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a sharp contemporary setting. Steered by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. set for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot delivers the closing chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Despite a known recipe, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma in the foreground, along with eerie supernatural rules. The ante is higher this round, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The return delves further into myth, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, reaching teens and game grownups. It hits in December, buttoning the final window.

SVOD Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror chamber piece starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a clever angle. No puffed out backstory. No legacy baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy Brands: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, 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.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trend Lines

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

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 goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The coming 2026 genre year to come: next chapters, universe starters, as well as A jammed Calendar Built For Scares

Dek: The emerging genre cycle loads at the outset with a January glut, from there flows through the mid-year, and deep into the holiday frame, combining brand heft, new concepts, and data-minded calendar placement. Distributors with platforms are leaning into right-sized spends, theater-first strategies, and social-driven marketing that transform horror entries into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

Horror has established itself as the surest lever in studio lineups, a category that can lift when it connects and still mitigate the losses when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for top brass that efficiently budgeted scare machines can galvanize social chatter, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The carry carried into 2025, where revived properties and critical darlings proved there is demand for varied styles, from returning installments to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a roster that reads highly synchronized across studios, with planned clusters, a balance of familiar brands and new pitches, and a refocused stance on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital and SVOD.

Marketers add the horror lane now works like a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can bow on almost any weekend, generate a quick sell for trailers and platform-native cuts, and over-index with fans that respond on advance nights and continue through the sophomore frame if the picture lands. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 layout reflects comfort in that engine. The slate rolls out with a loaded January block, then primes spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while carving room for a fall run that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into early November. The arrangement also includes the ongoing integration of specialty distributors and home platforms that can platform a title, ignite recommendations, and go nationwide at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is IP cultivation across brand ecosystems and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just turning out another continuation. They are looking to package ongoing narrative with a premium feel, whether that is a graphic identity that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a star attachment that connects a latest entry to a foundational era. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the most buzzed-about originals are prioritizing real-world builds, on-set effects and location-forward worlds. That fusion offers the 2026 slate a healthy mix of familiarity and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two front-of-slate projects that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the center, signaling it as both a relay and a return-to-roots character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach indicates a legacy-leaning mode without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Look for a marketing run centered on classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a summer alternative, this one will drive wide buzz through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three defined bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is crisp, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man sets up an machine companion that turns into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s marketing likely to echo creepy live activations and short reels that melds longing and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the early tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His projects are positioned as marquee events, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The spooky-season slot lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gnarly, physical-effects centered treatment can feel cinematic on a mid-range budget. Expect a red-band summer horror rush that maximizes international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio mounts two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is presenting as 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 directive to serve both franchise faithful and curious audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around canon, and creature effects, elements that can amplify deluxe auditorium demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by careful craft and period speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles land on copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a pacing that boosts both launch urgency and viewer acquisition in the post-theatrical. Prime Video blends licensed titles with global originals and brief theater runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and featured rows to stretch the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix remains opportunistic about first-party entries and festival deals, dating horror entries with shorter lead times and eventizing premieres with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a two-step of selective theatrical runs and rapid platforming that translates talk to trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a situational basis. The platform has indicated interest to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or headline-cast packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is curating a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the late stretch.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then pressing the year-end corridor to open out. That positioning has proved effective for auteur horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using select theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, 2026 leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is staleness. The workable fix is to frame each entry as a new angle. Paramount is emphasizing relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is comforting enough to build pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps clarify the method. In 2023, a cinema-first model that honored streaming windows did not block a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot in tandem, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without doldrums.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The creative meetings behind these films indicate a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that leans on mood and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft profiles and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that withholds plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original Source star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature work and production design, which align with convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel key. Look for trailers that emphasize pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

Calendar cadence

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 foggy reset amid headline IP. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the palette of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

February through May build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can thrive 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 cycled through PLF.

Back half into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-October slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a opaque tease strategy and limited plot reveals that center concept over reveals.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s digital partner unfolds into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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

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: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and this contact form her abrasive boss push to survive on a rugged island as the chain of command inverts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting scenario that leverages the fright of a child’s unreliable perceptions. Rating: TBD. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-grade and headline-actor led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that needles today’s horror trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further opens again, with a another family anchored to lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBA. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 fear. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: date shifting, fall likely.

Why this year, why now

Three grounded forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or reshuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, metered scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, providing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will cluster across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of see here 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.

Audience rhythm across the year

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

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, soundcraft, and framing 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, Lined Up To Scare

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. 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 track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.