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

A chilling unearthly terror film from storyteller / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an archaic force when unrelated individuals become tokens in a hellish struggle. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of continuance and age-old darkness that will remodel scare flicks this Halloween season. Produced by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick film follows five figures who awaken locked in a wilderness-bound cottage under the menacing control of Kyra, a troubled woman dominated by a two-thousand-year-old biblical demon. Prepare to be immersed by a big screen adventure that fuses deep-seated panic with ancestral stories, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a long-standing narrative in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reimagined when the forces no longer emerge from an outside force, but rather inside their minds. This symbolizes the grimmest shade of each of them. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the conflict becomes a unyielding face-off between innocence and sin.


In a forsaken no-man's-land, five friends find themselves stuck under the possessive influence and grasp of a obscure person. As the youths becomes submissive to combat her rule, exiled and stalked by creatures unfathomable, they are obligated to battle their soulful dreads while the clock harrowingly pushes forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia mounts and connections implode, coercing each individual to reconsider their self and the integrity of free will itself. The risk rise with every second, delivering a frightening tale that integrates ghostly evil with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken raw dread, an curse before modern man, manipulating emotional fractures, and dealing with a curse that erodes the self when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is oblivious until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is bone-chilling because it is so visceral.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be released for horror fans beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving horror lovers no matter where they are can face this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its initial teaser, which has received over six-figure audience.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, extending the thrill to global fright lovers.


Experience this haunted journey into fear. Stream *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to confront these haunting secrets about the psyche.


For bonus footage, special features, and reveals via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across entertainment pages and visit the movie’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s watershed moment: 2025 in focus U.S. release slate fuses ancient-possession motifs, microbudget gut-punches, set against brand-name tremors

Kicking off with endurance-driven terror suffused with near-Eastern lore and stretching into installment follow-ups set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 appears poised to be the richest along with intentionally scheduled year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios are anchoring the year with established lines, concurrently streaming platforms saturate the fall with unboxed visions as well as scriptural shivers. In parallel, horror’s indie wing is surfing the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, and now, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige fear returns

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Eli Craig directs and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer fades, the WB camp bows the concluding entry from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the tone that worked before is intact: throwback unease, trauma in the foreground, with ghostly inner logic. This run ups the stakes, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The next entry deepens the tale, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, speaking to teens and older millennials. It bows in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of 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 reads as sharp positioning. No overweight mythology. No IP hangover. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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.

Dials to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

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

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The next chiller slate: next chapters, non-franchise titles, paired with A packed Calendar tailored for shocks

Dek: The fresh scare year builds from the jump with a January cluster, from there extends through summer corridors, and well into the holiday stretch, mixing legacy muscle, new voices, and savvy counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are committing to smart costs, box-office-first windows, and viral-minded pushes that elevate genre releases into national conversation.

How the genre looks for 2026

This category has grown into the consistent counterweight in studio slates, a segment that can accelerate when it catches and still safeguard the downside when it stumbles. After 2023 demonstrated to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted scare machines can galvanize social chatter, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The carry carried into 2025, where legacy revivals and premium-leaning entries showed there is a lane for different modes, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that travel well. The takeaway for 2026 is a roster that appears tightly organized across the market, with obvious clusters, a pairing of household franchises and fresh ideas, and a recommitted eye on release windows that drive downstream revenue on paid VOD and home platforms.

Schedulers say the genre now acts as a fill-in ace on the schedule. The genre can open on virtually any date, supply a easy sell for ad units and UGC-friendly snippets, and over-index with audiences that show up on early shows and return through the week two if the film works. Coming out of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 pattern underscores comfort in that engine. The year rolls out with a busy January window, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while holding room for a autumn stretch that connects to All Hallows period and into early November. The arrangement also features the continuing integration of boutique distributors and platforms that can nurture a platform play, spark evangelism, and move wide at the right moment.

A companion trend is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. Major shops are not just turning out another follow-up. They are setting up threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a next film to a initial period. At the alongside this, the helmers behind the most watched originals are prioritizing tactile craft, on-set effects and distinct locales. That convergence hands 2026 a lively combination of recognition and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two centerpiece entries that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the heart, signaling it as both a succession moment and a return-to-roots character piece. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a roots-evoking approach without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push fueled by signature symbols, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek general-audience talk through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is elegant, sorrow-tinged, and logline-clear: a grieving man installs an machine companion that mutates into a murderous partner. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the studio’s marketing likely to revisit uncanny-valley stunts and short-form creative that interweaves affection and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s work are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting teaser and a later trailer push that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date offers Universal room to saturate 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 steers, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a in-your-face, on-set effects led style can feel deluxe on a efficient spend. Look for a red-band summer horror shot that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, extending a trusty supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is selling as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both fans and newcomers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build assets around world-building, and monster design, elements that can accelerate premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

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 sustains Eggers’ run of period horror centered on historical precision and period speech, this time set against lycan legends. The specialty arm has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Windowing plans in 2026 run on familiar rails. The studio’s horror films get redirected here head to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a pacing that expands both week-one demand and platform bumps in the tail. Prime Video continues to mix catalogue additions with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library engagement, using in-app campaigns, October hubs, and editorial rows to maximize the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix plays opportunist about originals and festival additions, securing horror entries with shorter lead times and eventizing premieres with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a laddered of targeted theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has proven amenable to purchase select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation intensifies.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 lane with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is simple: the same somber, 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 corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the December frame to scale. That positioning has been successful for elevated genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception allows. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using mini theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchises versus originals

By weight, 2026 skews toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on franchise value. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to market each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is spotlighting character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a hot helmer. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the package is known enough to spark pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps clarify the method. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that maintained windows did not obstruct a day-date move from performing when the brand was sticky. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to link the films through protagonists and motifs and to hold creative in the market without pause points.

Behind-the-camera trends

The craft conversations behind the year’s horror signal a continued lean toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that underscores tone and tension rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-true language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a preview that elevates tone over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in fan-con activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that center disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Release calendar overview

January is busy. Universal’s 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month wraps 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 formidable, but the variety of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited plot reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s DNA. 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 virtual companion mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 her abrasive boss scramble to survive on a far-flung island as the pecking order upends and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting tale that mediates the fear via a little one’s volatile subjective lens. Rating: not yet rated. Production: wrapped. 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 reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that riffs on of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 flares, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a unlucky family lashed to older hauntings. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: TBD. Production: ongoing. 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 dread. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that paused or re-sequenced in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage meme-ready beats from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will coexist across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

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

The sleeper chase 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, 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 escalate across the year, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, disciplined footprints, 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 materiality, soundscape, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is name recognition where it counts, creative ambition where it counts, 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.