Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primordial evil, a spine tingling horror feature, bowing Oct 2025 on top streamers

This unnerving unearthly thriller from dramatist / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an forgotten curse when guests become victims in a fiendish struggle. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful depiction of staying alive and prehistoric entity that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this scare season. Produced by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and gothic suspense flick follows five teens who find themselves stuck in a unreachable house under the aggressive will of Kyra, a female presence controlled by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Ready yourself to be shaken by a cinematic spectacle that integrates instinctive fear with mythic lore, hitting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a recurring tradition in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the beings no longer manifest from elsewhere, but rather internally. This marks the deepest layer of these individuals. The result is a emotionally raw inner struggle where the suspense becomes a unyielding conflict between moral forces.


In a abandoned forest, five young people find themselves imprisoned under the unholy control and curse of a obscure spirit. As the victims becomes incapacitated to break her curse, detached and pursued by unknowns mind-shattering, they are compelled to stand before their inner demons while the moments unceasingly draws closer toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust intensifies and partnerships dissolve, urging each cast member to examine their personhood and the idea of self-determination itself. The pressure climb with every breath, delivering a terror ride that fuses otherworldly panic with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to tap into ancestral fear, an spirit from ancient eras, manifesting in our weaknesses, and navigating a power that strips down our being when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra was about accessing something more primal than sorrow. She is ignorant until the demon emerges, and that metamorphosis is gut-wrenching because it is so raw.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for public screening beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure watchers across the world can survive this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has seen over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to thrill-seekers globally.


Do not miss this bone-rattling exploration of dread. Confront *Young & Cursed* this launch day to survive these chilling revelations about the human condition.


For exclusive trailers, filmmaker commentary, and news via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





The horror genre’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. rollouts weaves ancient-possession motifs, microbudget gut-punches, alongside returning-series thunder

From fight-to-live nightmare stories steeped in near-Eastern lore through to canon extensions as well as keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like the most stratified together with tactically planned year in the past ten years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles with established lines, in tandem premium streamers load up the fall with new voices set against archetypal fear. On the independent axis, independent banners is propelled by the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are targeted, and 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal kicks off the frame with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. Guided by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Booked into mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. drops the final chapter from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Even with a familiar chassis, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma in the foreground, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The follow up digs further into canon, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, reaching teens and game grownups. It lands in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When 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. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 looks like sharp programming. No bloated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The coming 2026 spook slate: continuations, non-franchise titles, alongside A stacked Calendar designed for frights

Dek The emerging terror year clusters in short order with a January wave, following that spreads through peak season, and continuing into the holiday frame, balancing marquee clout, original angles, and shrewd alternatives. Distributors with platforms are embracing lean spends, cinema-first plans, and viral-minded pushes that turn horror entries into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has grown into the most reliable release in programming grids, a lane that can break out when it lands and still safeguard the drawdown when it underperforms. After 2023 reassured decision-makers that efficiently budgeted pictures can own audience talk, 2024 sustained momentum with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The carry fed into 2025, where re-entries and prestige plays underscored there is an opening for different modes, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that perform internationally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a roster that appears tightly organized across the industry, with strategic blocks, a spread of brand names and fresh ideas, and a revived emphasis on cinema windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and subscription services.

Schedulers say the horror lane now functions as a utility player on the rollout map. Horror can open on open real estate, create a grabby hook for spots and TikTok spots, and outpace with viewers that show up on previews Thursday and return through the sophomore frame if the title delivers. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm reflects trust in that dynamic. The year launches with a heavy January block, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a October build that reaches into the Halloween frame and into post-Halloween. The gridline also spotlights the stronger partnership of specialty distributors and platforms that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and scale up at the strategic time.

A further high-level trend is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. The studios are not just releasing another return. They are looking to package story carry-over with a premium feel, whether that is a brandmark that indicates a new tone or a cast configuration that bridges a new entry to a heyday. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the top original plays are celebrating physical effects work, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That convergence gives 2026 a lively combination of known notes and surprise, which is what works overseas.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount plants an early flag with two marquee entries that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in Get More Info the top job and Neve Campbell back at the focus, marketing it as both a baton pass and a foundation-forward character-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a throwback-friendly bent without rehashing the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. A campaign is expected anchored in heritage visuals, character spotlights, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will emphasize. As a summer relief option, this one will go after large awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick shifts to whatever leads the discourse that spring.

Universal has three distinct entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is tight, heartbroken, and big-hook: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that evolves into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to recreate off-kilter promo beats and short-cut promos that interweaves love and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a title drop to become an fan moment closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as marquee events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The spooky-season slot offers Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has proven that a visceral, makeup-driven mix can feel prestige on a lean spend. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror shock that emphasizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio mounts two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, preserving a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is positioning as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both players and new audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build materials around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can fuel premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in rigorous craft and dialect, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is robust.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Digital strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a sequence that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and trial spikes in the after-window. Prime Video blends third-party pickups with global acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog engagement, using editorial spots, Halloween hubs, and curated strips to prolong the run on 2026 genre cume. Netflix stays opportunistic about internal projects and festival wins, slotting horror entries with shorter lead times and staging as events rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a dual-phase of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a curated basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to take on select projects with accomplished filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 track 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 angle is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then using the holiday slot to broaden. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Do not be surprised by 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 hand in hand, using limited theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchise entries versus originals

By count, 2026 tips toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on household recognition. The challenge, as ever, is viewer burnout. The preferred tactic is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the bundle is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and advance-audience nights.

The last three-year set help explain the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that observed windows did not deter a day-date move from hitting when the brand was big. In 2024, auteur craft horror over-performed in premium large format. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on 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, permits marketing to relate entries through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind this slate telegraph a continued bias toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for textured sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster aesthetics and world-building, which work nicely for booth activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel necessary. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that benefit on big speakers.

Annual flow

January is heavy. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid marquee brands. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the spread of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring set up the summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited pre-release reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a horror stakes that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Project briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s intelligent companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. 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: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 prickly boss work to survive on a cut-off island as the power dynamic inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to terror, built on Cronin’s on-set craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that twists the dread of a child’s fragile impressions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-supported and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that lampoons current genre trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 bursts, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a young family lashed to lingering terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A new start designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward true survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: to be announced. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and ancient menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026, why now

Three hands-on forces structure this lineup. First, production that stalled or recalendared in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and shorter timelines. 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming landings. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will coexist across five Source weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where midrange-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 shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 cold, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized 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 surface detail, acoustics, 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 Is Well Positioned

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.