Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on global platforms

An hair-raising supernatural suspense story from scriptwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an timeless fear when newcomers become instruments in a devilish struggle. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving account of resistance and mythic evil that will redefine the horror genre this Halloween season. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and claustrophobic feature follows five teens who emerge stuck in a off-grid cabin under the dark command of Kyra, a central character inhabited by a legendary religious nightmare. Be warned to be hooked by a visual venture that harmonizes bone-deep fear with mythic lore, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a enduring concept in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is radically shifted when the entities no longer manifest externally, but rather within themselves. This echoes the most terrifying corner of the players. The result is a riveting emotional conflict where the story becomes a brutal confrontation between righteousness and malevolence.


In a forsaken wilderness, five adults find themselves sealed under the fiendish aura and haunting of a enigmatic female figure. As the group becomes vulnerable to evade her grasp, isolated and chased by terrors indescribable, they are made to wrestle with their inner demons while the hours unforgivingly ticks onward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion surges and partnerships collapse, compelling each cast member to evaluate their existence and the nature of self-determination itself. The danger magnify with every heartbeat, delivering a nightmarish journey that fuses occult fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken ancestral fear, an curse that existed before mankind, working through emotional vulnerability, and testing a evil that redefines identity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra demanded embodying something rooted in terror. She is ignorant until the takeover begins, and that transition is harrowing because it is so close.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—allowing users anywhere can be part of this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first preview, which has garnered over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, extending the thrill to viewers around the world.


Witness this unforgettable exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to explore these evil-rooted truths about the psyche.


For film updates, extra content, and promotions from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across platforms and visit our film’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 season U.S. release slate melds biblical-possession ideas, festival-born jolts, in parallel with legacy-brand quakes

Moving from fight-to-live nightmare stories rooted in primordial scripture and including franchise returns alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 stands to become horror’s most layered along with blueprinted year in recent memory.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. top-tier distributors lay down anchors via recognizable brands, while premium streamers stack the fall with new voices alongside old-world menace. In parallel, the artisan tier is riding the afterglow of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, which means 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 presses the advantage.

the Universal camp kicks off the frame with a headline swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. landing in mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The stakes escalate here, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, broadens the animatronic terror cast, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It posts in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

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.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 looks like sharp programming. No bloated canon. No legacy baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. 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. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, with Francis Lawrence directing, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror comes roaring back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Near Term Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror Year Ahead: brand plays, new stories, together with A stacked Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The current terror cycle lines up at the outset with a January cluster, following that extends through summer corridors, and straight through the year-end corridor, balancing series momentum, novel approaches, and shrewd release strategy. The major players are doubling down on mid-range economics, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that shape genre titles into water-cooler talk.

The landscape of horror in 2026

This space has established itself as the surest tool in studio calendars, a space that can accelerate when it lands and still mitigate the liability when it underperforms. After the 2023 year showed studio brass that mid-range shockers can own the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with director-led heat and unexpected risers. The upswing extended into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers proved there is demand for different modes, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that translate worldwide. The aggregate for 2026 is a schedule that seems notably aligned across companies, with strategic blocks, a combination of known properties and novel angles, and a revived eye on theatrical windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and SVOD.

Schedulers say the horror lane now operates like a versatile piece on the release plan. Horror can roll out on many corridors, yield a quick sell for promo reels and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with ticket buyers that come out on opening previews and stick through the week two if the movie satisfies. Following a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 mapping demonstrates assurance in that setup. The year gets underway with a front-loaded January corridor, then plants flags in spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a September to October window that runs into All Hallows period and beyond. The map also illustrates the deeper integration of boutique distributors and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, create conversation, and grow at the timely point.

A companion trend is series management across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just making another installment. They are seeking to position continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a logo package that suggests a tonal shift or a cast configuration that threads a next entry to a heyday. At the concurrently, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are returning to in-camera technique, makeup and prosthetics and specific settings. That alloy hands the 2026 slate a healthy mix of known notes and discovery, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount marks the early tempo with two headline pushes that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the core, steering it as both a handoff and a rootsy character-centered film. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a memory-charged angle without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run anchored in classic imagery, character spotlights, and a promo sequence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will emphasize. As a summer alternative, this one will chase wide buzz through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick redirects to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three distinct pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is tight, soulful, and logline-clear: a grieving man installs an digital partner that unfolds into a harmful mate. The date puts it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to echo eerie street stunts and micro spots that fuses devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title drop to become an teaser payoff closer to the first look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are sold as filmmaker events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-month date gives Universal room to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček have a peek at this web-site helms, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, hands-on effects execution can feel top-tier on a disciplined budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror shot that embraces offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio places two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is describing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both loyalists and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build materials around narrative world, and creature design, elements that can boost premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in textural authenticity and textual fidelity, this time set against lycan legends. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is warm.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate window into copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ordering that fortifies both debut momentum and subscription bumps in the back half. Prime Video continues to mix acquired titles with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data warrants it. Max news and Hulu lean on their strengths in deep cuts, using seasonal hubs, holiday hubs, and editorial rows to prolong the run on aggregate take. Netflix keeps flexible about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops debuts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has indicated interest to purchase select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 pipeline with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is no-nonsense: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, reimagined for modern soundscapes and visuals. 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 flagged a theatrical rollout for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the late-season weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has delivered for craft-driven horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception drives. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using boutique theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By weight, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to brand each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is emphasizing character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is promising a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a continental coloration from a new voice. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the bundle is assuring enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent-year comps frame the approach. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that honored streaming windows did not deter a same-day experiment from hitting when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they angle differently and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot consecutively, lets marketing to connect the chapters through character and theme and to leave creative active without doldrums.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft conversations behind this year’s genre forecast a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds tone and tension rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and craft coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for red-band excess, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta-horror reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which play well in expo activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that center pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that play in premium auditoriums.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. 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 foggy reset amid big-brand pushes. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August and September into October leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects 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 loss-struck man’s virtual companion grows into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 emerges 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unsettled 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 hard-edged boss struggle to survive on a rugged island as the power balance of power tilts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to terror, founded on Cronin’s on-set craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting premise that toys with the fear of a child’s wobbly impressions. Rating: pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-grade and name-above-title occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A genre lampoon that targets current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 surges, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new household tethered to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: pending. Production: active. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 period-precise speech and elemental dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that paused or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate social-ready stingers from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can capture a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

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

The sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to capitalize on those pockets. January could imp source easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing detail, soundcraft, 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.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand heft where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, lock the reveals, and let the shudders sell the seats.