Antediluvian Evil emerges: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked shocker, premiering Oct 2025 across major platforms

A bone-chilling mystic suspense film from dramatist / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an prehistoric horror when outsiders become tools in a dark trial. Launching October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping journey of survival and primeval wickedness that will alter terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Directed by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and eerie film follows five lost souls who are stirred imprisoned in a secluded cabin under the malignant grip of Kyra, a cursed figure haunted by a biblical-era holy text monster. Steel yourself to be gripped by a visual adventure that melds soul-chilling terror with mythic lore, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a enduring foundation in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is challenged when the monsters no longer manifest externally, but rather inside their minds. This represents the darkest part of the victims. The result is a psychologically brutal psychological battle where the drama becomes a soul-crushing conflict between righteousness and malevolence.


In a remote landscape, five teens find themselves stuck under the ominous influence and inhabitation of a unidentified character. As the team becomes submissive to escape her rule, cut off and tormented by evils beyond comprehension, they are confronted to encounter their inner horrors while the moments ruthlessly draws closer toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread intensifies and teams dissolve, pressuring each figure to reflect on their true nature and the nature of volition itself. The threat accelerate with every second, delivering a fear-soaked story that marries spiritual fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to extract primal fear, an curse from prehistory, operating within psychological breaks, and challenging a force that challenges autonomy when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant evoking something darker than pain. She is unseeing until the control shifts, and that conversion is terrifying because it is so unshielded.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for public screening beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring fans in all regions can face this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over six-figure audience.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, making the film to lovers of terror across nations.


Don’t miss this gripping journey into fear. Confront *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to witness these nightmarish insights about our species.


For teasers, behind-the-scenes content, and promotions from the cast and crew, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit the film’s website.





Contemporary horror’s major pivot: 2025 for genre fans U.S. release slate blends archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, stacked beside returning-series thunder

From fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with ancient scripture and including series comebacks set beside acutely observed indies, 2025 is emerging as the genre’s most multifaceted paired with strategic year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio majors set cornerstones with franchise anchors, in tandem premium streamers crowd the fall with new voices in concert with old-world menace. On the independent axis, the independent cohort is drafting behind the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are surgical, hence 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner fires the first shot with a statement play: a contemporary Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. targeting mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Guided by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer tapers, the Warner Bros. banner drops the final chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: 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. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson returns to the helm, and those signature textures resurface: nostalgic menace, trauma centered writing, plus otherworld rules that chill. The stakes escalate here, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The return delves further into myth, thickens the animatronic pantheon, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It hits in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. 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.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, from Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

What to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror swings back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The approaching spook calendar year ahead: follow-ups, Originals, paired with A busy Calendar Built For nightmares

Dek The fresh genre slate lines up in short order with a January wave, thereafter unfolds through midyear, and straight through the December corridor, mixing IP strength, novel approaches, and strategic calendar placement. Major distributors and platforms are leaning into mid-range economics, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that position these releases into four-quadrant talking points.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has established itself as the consistent lever in release strategies, a space that can scale when it catches and still insulate the exposure when it does not. After 2023 demonstrated to buyers that mid-range entries can lead social chatter, the following year maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and unexpected risers. The run rolled into 2025, where returns and critical darlings signaled there is an opening for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to original one-offs that resonate abroad. The sum for the 2026 slate is a grid that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with purposeful groupings, a blend of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a renewed emphasis on big-screen windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on paid VOD and streaming.

Planners observe the horror lane now serves as a schedule utility on the programming map. The genre can arrive on many corridors, deliver a quick sell for promo reels and vertical videos, and punch above weight with audiences that appear on opening previews and keep coming through the second weekend if the film fires. After a production delay era, the 2026 setup indicates conviction in that playbook. The slate begins with a busy January corridor, then exploits spring through early summer for counterweight, while clearing room for a fall corridor that pushes into the Halloween corridor and into post-Halloween. The program also reflects the expanded integration of specialty distributors and streaming partners that can platform and widen, grow buzz, and grow at the inflection point.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across linked properties and long-running brands. Distribution groups are not just producing another sequel. They are shaping as lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that indicates a re-angled tone or a ensemble decision that binds a next film to a first wave. At the same time, the creative leads behind the marquee originals are championing on-set craft, in-camera effects and grounded locations. That alloy provides the 2026 slate a vital pairing of brand comfort and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile entries that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the focus, angling it as both a legacy handover and a back-to-basics relationship-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance telegraphs a roots-evoking angle without going over the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Look for a marketing run driven by legacy iconography, character previews, and a two-beat trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a summer relief option, this one will generate mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick shifts to whatever drives the social talk that spring.

Universal has three defined releases. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, somber, and concept-forward: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that becomes a dangerous lover. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to replay uncanny-valley stunts and short-form creative that interweaves attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the debut look. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His entries are marketed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later trailer push that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-October frame creates space for Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window useful reference to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has proven that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel big on a mid-range budget. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror shock that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio places two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, holding a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is billing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both diehards and new audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can stoke premium booking interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and linguistic texture, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. The studio’s horror films flow to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a pacing that maximizes both week-one demand and platform bumps in the downstream. Prime Video will mix library titles with global pickups and limited runs in theaters when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and featured rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix keeps optionality about internal projects and festival acquisitions, slotting horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like premieres with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of targeted theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has been willing to secure select projects with established auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to create word of mouth 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.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday slot to go wider. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-driven genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using mini theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their user base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By number, the 2026 slate favors the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on franchise value. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to sell each entry as a new angle. Paramount is underscoring character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the team and cast is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a parallel release from delivering when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reorient and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without lulls.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft conversations behind the 2026 entries hint at a continued lean toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that underscores unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that leans on mood over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature design and production design, which are ideal for con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

January is crowded. 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 somber counterpoint amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the variety of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May tee up summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a shoulder season window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited teasers that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s synthetic partner mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 tough boss claw to survive on a remote island as the power balance inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 modern reimagining that returns the monster to dread, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that leverages the horror of a child’s mercurial impressions. Rating: forthcoming. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed and headline-actor led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A genre lampoon that pokes at today’s horror trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production booked for fall 2025. 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 ignites, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a unlucky family anchored to older hauntings. Rating: TBA. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: pending. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: undetermined. Production: ongoing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 ancient menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces organize this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage bite-size scare clips from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

There is also the slotting calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will stack across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 dark-horse 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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Expect a healthy 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 somber, 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 compound over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound field, and cinematography 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 Shapes Up Strong

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand power where it counts, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.