Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on global platforms

A bone-chilling paranormal scare-fest from creator / director Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primordial terror when drifters become conduits in a dark ceremony. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense story of endurance and forgotten curse that will transform the fear genre this fall. Created by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and shadowy cinema piece follows five people who find themselves stuck in a wilderness-bound house under the malignant sway of Kyra, a central character overtaken by a biblical-era biblical force. Prepare to be drawn in by a filmic display that unites intense horror with ancestral stories, unleashing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a legendary tradition in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is redefined when the fiends no longer arise from beyond, but rather from within. This symbolizes the most hidden corner of the victims. The result is a harrowing mental war where the drama becomes a merciless battle between purity and corruption.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five young people find themselves marooned under the ghastly grip and curse of a unidentified female figure. As the protagonists becomes paralyzed to escape her rule, cut off and hunted by creatures unfathomable, they are cornered to endure their worst nightmares while the clock without pause runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust mounts and links break, driving each protagonist to examine their existence and the nature of conscious will itself. The danger escalate with every fleeting time, delivering a frightening tale that integrates ghostly evil with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to tap into core terror, an curse beyond recorded history, embedding itself in emotional vulnerability, and exposing a presence that peels away humanity when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra asked for exploring something far beyond human desperation. She is in denial until the evil takes hold, and that flip is deeply unsettling because it is so private.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for worldwide release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that households around the globe can engage with this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has collected over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, making the film to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this haunted voyage through terror. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these evil-rooted truths about the psyche.


For teasers, set experiences, and insider scoops from behind the lens, follow @YACMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s watershed moment: 2025 across markets U.S. rollouts melds biblical-possession ideas, signature indie scares, plus IP aftershocks

Beginning with fight-to-live nightmare stories rooted in old testament echoes and including returning series in concert with focused festival visions, 2025 is coalescing into the most complex plus intentionally scheduled year in a decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. leading studios set cornerstones with familiar IP, even as premium streamers saturate the fall with new perspectives and legend-coded dread. On the festival side, independent banners is buoyed by the uplift of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. The fall stretch is the proving field, and now, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are disciplined, therefore 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The top end is active. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal banner begins the calendar with a confident swing: a modernized Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. With Leigh Whannell at the helm with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. landing in 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 translation rendered as pared-down fear. Helmed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer wanes, Warner’s pipeline unveils the final movement from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. While the template is known, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The return delves further into myth, grows the animatronic horror lineup, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It opens in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative starring Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Penned and steered by 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is an astute call. No puffed out backstory. No IP hangover. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. 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. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trends to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

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

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

What’s Next: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching scare release year: installments, standalone ideas, together with A Crowded Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek The fresh scare calendar lines up up front with a January wave, then rolls through the mid-year, and pushing into the festive period, combining marquee clout, novel approaches, and shrewd counter-scheduling. The major players are betting on lean spends, theatrical exclusivity first, and viral-minded pushes that convert genre titles into national conversation.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror has solidified as the bankable lever in release plans, a segment that can expand when it connects and still protect the downside when it under-delivers. After 2023 re-taught strategy teams that mid-range chillers can own mainstream conversation, the following year carried the beat with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The carry moved into the 2025 frame, where reboots and critical darlings showed there is a market for a spectrum, from series extensions to original features that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across the industry, with obvious clusters, a equilibrium of legacy names and new pitches, and a re-energized commitment on exclusive windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and subscription services.

Planners observe the space now slots in as a utility player on the calendar. Horror can debut on almost any weekend, provide a quick sell for previews and platform-native cuts, and outpace with patrons that line up on first-look nights and continue through the next weekend if the feature hits. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan reflects assurance in that equation. The slate kicks off with a crowded January block, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while saving space for a late-year stretch that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and into post-Halloween. The calendar also highlights the increasing integration of arthouse labels and platforms that can develop over weeks, spark evangelism, and move wide at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is legacy care across shared universes and legacy franchises. The companies are not just greenlighting another chapter. They are shaping as connection with a heightened moment, whether that is a title design that conveys a reframed mood or a lead change that reconnects a latest entry to a vintage era. At the same time, the filmmakers behind the most buzzed-about originals are doubling down on practical craft, physical gags and location-forward worlds. That interplay produces 2026 a robust balance of comfort and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount defines the early cadence with two front-of-slate pushes that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the heart, setting it up as both a baton pass and a rootsy character-forward chapter. Production is active in Atlanta, and the creative posture points to a memory-charged strategy without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign leaning on heritage visuals, intro reveals, and a rollout cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will play up. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue general-audience talk through meme-ready spots, with Source the horror spoof format permitting quick adjustments to whatever defines pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three distinct releases. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is elegant, melancholic, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an virtual partner that mutates into a perilous partner. The date sets it at the front of a packed window, with marketing at Universal likely to iterate on uncanny-valley stunts and short-form creative that interweaves affection and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title drop to become an earned moment closer to the debut look. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s releases are set up as signature events, with a hinting teaser and a subsequent trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns this page with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, on-set effects led strategy can feel high-value on a lean spend. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror charge that emphasizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio mounts two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, sustaining a reliable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is selling as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both fans and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can amplify large-format demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by immersive craft and linguistic texture, this time driven by werewolf stories. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is robust.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform strategies for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre slate shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that maximizes both premiere heat and sub growth in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances licensed titles with global originals and brief theater runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in deep cuts, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival deals, timing horror entries toward the drop and staging as events launches with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a staged of precision theatrical plays and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation builds.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, elevated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday slot to broaden. That positioning has helped for arthouse horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception supports. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using boutique theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their membership.

Brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate favors the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is brand erosion. The standing approach is to pitch each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-tinted vision from a new voice. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival-thriller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the deal build is grounded enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comps from the last three years illuminate the logic. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept streaming intact did not preclude a parallel release from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and stretch the story. 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 two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through relationships and themes and to sustain campaign assets without dead zones.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 slate forecast a continued bias toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that spotlights tone and tension rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a first look that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at practical nastiness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta recalibration that centers an original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to booth activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that shine in top rooms.

Annual flow

January is loaded. 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 somber counterpoint amid heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the spread of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth endures.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate shifts into something lethally affectionate. 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: gothic-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 push to survive on a lonely island as the control dynamic swivels and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s physical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 domestic haunting chiller that frames the panic through a young child’s uneven perspective. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. 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 rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A satirical comeback that skewers today’s horror trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: pending. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new clan linked to past horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on pure survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 era-accurate language and elemental fear. Rating: pending. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 More about the author slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three workable forces drive this lineup. First, production that paused or re-sequenced in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming placements. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage shareable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will jostle across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to work those windows. January could easily deliver the first 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, 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 scale over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, soundscape, and visual design 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, Ready To Roar

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.