Primeval Dread reawakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled thriller, debuting Oct 2025 across major platforms

A spine-tingling mystic fear-driven tale from dramatist / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an age-old curse when unrelated individuals become conduits in a hellish conflict. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of overcoming and forgotten curse that will revolutionize terror storytelling this ghoul season. Brought to life by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and claustrophobic screenplay follows five teens who emerge sealed in a off-grid house under the dark dominion of Kyra, a possessed female possessed by a legendary sacred-era entity. Get ready to be shaken by a narrative presentation that weaves together intense horror with folklore, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a historical foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is inverted when the beings no longer come from external sources, but rather inside them. This suggests the grimmest facet of the protagonists. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a unyielding fight between purity and corruption.


In a desolate no-man's-land, five characters find themselves marooned under the evil force and curse of a uncanny apparition. As the companions becomes powerless to break her power, left alone and attacked by powers inconceivable, they are forced to stand before their darkest emotions while the clock unforgivingly winds toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety escalates and links fracture, driving each participant to rethink their identity and the foundation of volition itself. The threat intensify with every heartbeat, delivering a horror experience that combines ghostly evil with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to tap into pure dread, an curse before modern man, filtering through our weaknesses, and challenging a spirit that challenges autonomy when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is unaware until the evil takes hold, and that turn is emotionally raw because it is so private.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving audiences worldwide can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its release of trailer #1, which has received over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, delivering the story to fans of fear everywhere.


Don’t miss this haunted exploration of dread. Face *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to survive these spiritual awakenings about mankind.


For film updates, production insights, and alerts from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit the movie portal.





U.S. horror’s tipping point: 2025 stateside slate blends old-world possession, microbudget gut-punches, together with series shake-ups

Spanning last-stand terror steeped in legendary theology and onward to canon extensions alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex combined with intentionally scheduled year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. Top studios bookend the months through proven series, in tandem streaming platforms crowd the fall with new perspectives set against ancient terrors. In parallel, indie storytellers is drafting behind the echoes of a banner 2024 fest year. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are surgical, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium genre swings back

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s slate starts the year with a big gambit: a refashioned Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, 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 finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma explicitly handled, and eerie supernatural logic. This run ups the stakes, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: Economy, maximum dread

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn with Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. 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.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is a clever angle. No puffed out backstory. No legacy baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Brands: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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 to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror reemerges
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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



The forthcoming 2026 genre year to come: continuations, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek: The new scare year crowds right away with a January pile-up, subsequently unfolds through peak season, and continuing into the holidays, weaving franchise firepower, inventive spins, and tactical release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing efficient budgets, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that turn these films into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable tool in studio slates, a pillar that can lift when it breaks through and still insulate the drag when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for greenlighters that low-to-mid budget pictures can command cultural conversation, 2024 kept energy high with signature-voice projects and quiet over-performers. The upswing rolled into 2025, where revived properties and elevated films made clear there is a market for different modes, from returning installments to director-led originals that perform internationally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a slate that reads highly synchronized across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a balance of familiar brands and original hooks, and a refocused emphasis on cinema windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and home platforms.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the rollout map. Horror can open on open real estate, furnish a clear pitch for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with audiences that come out on previews Thursday and sustain through the second weekend if the title delivers. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores trust in that model. The calendar rolls out with a crowded January window, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while carving room for a late-year stretch that carries into spooky season and past Halloween. The arrangement also shows the deeper integration of specialty distributors and OTT outlets that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and move wide at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is brand management across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. Studios are not just releasing another next film. They are moving to present story carry-over with a premium feel, whether that is a title presentation that indicates a new tone or a ensemble decision that ties a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the helmers behind the marquee originals are championing real-world builds, physical gags and grounded locations. That interplay affords 2026 a confident blend of trust and discovery, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount fires first with two big-ticket moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a memory-charged framework without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave driven by classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will hunt four-quadrant chatter through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick turns to whatever rules the social talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tight, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an algorithmic mate that becomes a dangerous lover. The date sets it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to echo strange in-person beats and quick hits that melds romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places 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 posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the early tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are positioned as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-month date gives the studio room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, physical-effects centered style can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a splatter summer horror surge that embraces global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio sets two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot affords Sony time to build marketing units around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can amplify premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in rigorous craft and language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The label has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is glowing.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a pacing that expands both launch urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video continues to mix outside acquisitions with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library pulls, using editorial spots, fright rows, and curated strips to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival pickups, securing horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around premieres with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a two-step of precision releases and prompt platform moves that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown appetite to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is tight: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, elevated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the autumn stretch.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has helped for director-led genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception allows. Be ready for 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 limited theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Brands and originals

By share, the 2026 slate favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on fan equity. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to present each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is foregrounding core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the package is assuring enough to drive advance ticketing and first-night audiences.

Rolling three-year comps outline the playbook. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a parallel release from winning when the brand was strong. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they shift POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, lets marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to hold creative in the market without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 entries telegraph a continued turn toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that emphasizes creep and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta pivot that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster realization and design, which work nicely for convention floor stunts and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel necessary. Look for trailers that center disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is busy. 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 atmospheric change-up amid big-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the menu of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring stage summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls 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 and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s algorithmic partner mutates into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 demanding boss work to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic shifts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

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 renewed vision that returns the monster to terror, built on Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting premise that twists the fright of a child’s wobbly read. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 detonates, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a fresh family snared by ancient dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-driven horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: forthcoming. 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: forthcoming. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 primordial menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces shape this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups this website that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will jostle across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sonics, and visuals 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts evolve. 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.