Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a spine tingling feature, rolling out October 2025 on leading streamers

An eerie spectral fear-driven tale from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an forgotten horror when passersby become subjects in a diabolical ritual. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of overcoming and primeval wickedness that will transform the fear genre this cool-weather season. Realized by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and shadowy thriller follows five unknowns who emerge stuck in a unreachable shack under the unfriendly sway of Kyra, a mysterious girl haunted by a millennia-old Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be gripped by a visual journey that melds bodily fright with biblical origins, unleashing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic narrative in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is inverted when the fiends no longer originate outside their bodies, but rather deep within. This mirrors the malevolent corner of these individuals. The result is a relentless mind game where the intensity becomes a intense struggle between divinity and wickedness.


In a desolate landscape, five characters find themselves marooned under the ominous aura and haunting of a haunted female presence. As the ensemble becomes incapable to evade her manipulation, isolated and stalked by unknowns beyond reason, they are obligated to face their core terrors while the deathwatch relentlessly ticks toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread builds and ties implode, compelling each member to evaluate their essence and the structure of independent thought itself. The cost intensify with every breath, delivering a horror experience that marries occult fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to dig into instinctual horror, an presence that existed before mankind, feeding on human fragility, and dealing with a spirit that challenges autonomy when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra involved tapping into something far beyond human desperation. She is innocent until the possession kicks in, and that change is soul-crushing because it is so unshielded.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that horror lovers worldwide can face this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its original promo, which has pulled in over notable views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, delivering the story to a worldwide audience.


Make sure to see this visceral voyage through terror. Experience *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to acknowledge these terrifying truths about mankind.


For featurettes, extra content, and reveals from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across social media and visit the official movie site.





American horror’s sea change: the year 2025 American release plan braids together archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, together with legacy-brand quakes

From fight-to-live nightmare stories saturated with biblical myth through to legacy revivals as well as keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like the most stratified in tandem with intentionally scheduled year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. top-tier distributors lay down anchors with established lines, as digital services flood the fall with emerging auteurs as well as legend-coded dread. On the independent axis, horror’s indie wing is carried on the carry of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween holding the peak, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The fall stretch is the proving field, notably this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are targeted, which means 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium genre swings back

The majors are assertive. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal kicks off the frame with a big gambit: a modernized Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, instead in a current-day frame. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. 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.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer fades, the Warner Bros. banner launches the swan song inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. While the template is known, 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.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This run ups the stakes, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, reaching teens and game grownups. It arrives in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Plays: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga toplined by 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 film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Penned and steered by 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No swollen lore. No continuity burden. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Brands: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. 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, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends Worth Watching

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

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

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 such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror cycle: next chapters, new stories, as well as A stacked Calendar aimed at jolts

Dek: The current horror season lines up from the jump with a January pile-up, after that flows through midyear, and running into the holidays, marrying brand heft, original angles, and calculated alternatives. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and shareable marketing that elevate these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the sturdy move in programming grids, a corner that can spike when it breaks through and still buffer the risk when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for leaders that mid-range horror vehicles can galvanize social chatter, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The head of steam fed into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is appetite for varied styles, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a lineup that presents tight coordination across studios, with mapped-out bands, a equilibrium of marquee IP and new concepts, and a re-energized stance on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium digital rental and digital services.

Planners observe the category now functions as a versatile piece on the programming map. The genre can premiere on almost any weekend, generate a grabby hook for trailers and short-form placements, and outstrip with patrons that respond on advance nights and stay strong through the second frame if the film hits. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration telegraphs confidence in that engine. The year commences with a heavy January window, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while reserving space for a September to October window that flows toward Halloween and afterwards. The map also illustrates the stronger partnership of specialized imprints and platforms that can build gradually, grow buzz, and expand at the right moment.

An added macro current is brand management across ongoing universes and established properties. Studio teams are not just releasing another next film. They are seeking to position connection with a heightened moment, whether that is a graphic identity that flags a refreshed voice or a casting choice that threads a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the very same time, the auteurs behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing tactile craft, physical gags and vivid settings. That combination yields 2026 a lively combination of known notes and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the spine, signaling it as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the creative stance points to a memory-charged approach without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive rooted in heritage visuals, early character teases, and a promo sequence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will feature. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt four-quadrant chatter through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format supporting quick shifts to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that mutates into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise viral uncanny stunts and snackable content that melds longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a official title to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are presented as event films, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend opens a lane to dominate 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, in-camera leaning style can feel premium on a efficient spend. Expect a gore-forward summer horror hit that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is calling a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot allows Sony to build promo materials around lore, and monster craft, elements that can stoke premium screens and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 centered on meticulous craft and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The specialty arm has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is favorable.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre entries move to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a structure that expands both premiere heat and viewer acquisition in the back half. Prime Video interleaves acquired titles with world buys and short theatrical plays when the data points to it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog discovery, using curated hubs, Halloween hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on aggregate take. Netflix retains agility about original films and festival additions, locking in horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops launches with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a per-project basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to pick up select projects with acclaimed directors or marquee packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation builds.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 slate with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is clear: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, retooled for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas corridor to increase reach. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-driven genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception allows. Anticipate 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 as partners, using precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By weight, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The question, as ever, is diminishing returns. The operating solution is to position each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is emphasizing character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a fresh helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles supply the oxygen. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an flinty 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.

Past-three-year patterns help explain the approach. In 2023, a exclusive click site cinema model that kept clean windows did not stop a day-and-date experiment from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they alter lens and expand the canvas. 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 filmed in sequence, enables marketing to tie installments through character spine and themes and to keep assets alive without extended gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The production chatter behind the 2026 entries telegraph a continued preference for tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that emphasizes creep and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in trade spotlights and department features before rolling out a tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at red-band excess, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature craft and set design, which favor convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that sing on PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is heavy. Universal’s 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 larger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the menu of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Winter into spring load in summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited previews that stress concept over spoilers.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday card usage.

One-sentence dossiers

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s algorithmic partner shifts into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: ambience-forward adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss push to survive on a isolated island as the hierarchy shifts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s practical effects and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. 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 domestic haunting piece that plays with the chill of a child’s fragile read. Rating: not yet rated. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: rating forthcoming. 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 breaks out, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a new family linked to older hauntings. Rating: TBA. 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: forthcoming. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. Production: proceeding. 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 time-true diction and primordial menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, offering breathing room 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 stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The sleeper chase continues in Q1, where lower and 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, 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 momentum and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, acoustics, 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.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.