Mythic Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across major platforms

A haunting spiritual fright fest from literary architect / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an ancient horror when strangers become tokens in a malevolent contest. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing tale of living through and ancient evil that will resculpt the horror genre this cool-weather season. Produced by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick story follows five characters who suddenly rise isolated in a remote dwelling under the ominous control of Kyra, a female presence controlled by a two-thousand-year-old sacrosanct terror. Arm yourself to be gripped by a theatrical outing that integrates gut-punch terror with mythic lore, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a enduring narrative in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reimagined when the dark entities no longer come outside the characters, but rather deep within. This illustrates the most sinister layer of these individuals. The result is a harrowing mind game where the plotline becomes a ongoing contest between purity and corruption.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five individuals find themselves trapped under the sinister grip and grasp of a mysterious female presence. As the ensemble becomes incapable to escape her command, disconnected and tormented by spirits unimaginable, they are obligated to acknowledge their inner demons while the doomsday meter without pity ticks toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear mounts and partnerships disintegrate, driving each individual to challenge their character and the concept of independent thought itself. The consequences grow with every instant, delivering a paranormal ride that blends unearthly horror with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to tap into ancestral fear, an threat before modern man, feeding on human fragility, and dealing with a curse that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra was centered on something rooted in terror. She is blind until the demon emerges, and that flip is harrowing because it is so emotional.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing subscribers around the globe can experience this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first preview, which has collected over notable views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, offering the tale to scare fans abroad.


Be sure to catch this gripping descent into darkness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this launch day to see these fearful discoveries about human nature.


For sneak peeks, filmmaker commentary, and press updates via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit our horror hub.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 cycle domestic schedule fuses old-world possession, signature indie scares, set against tentpole growls

Running from pressure-cooker survival tales suffused with biblical myth through to IP renewals paired with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the most stratified in tandem with carefully orchestrated year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, even as premium streamers pack the fall with fresh voices as well as legend-coded dread. In the indie lane, independent banners is fueled by the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, notably this year, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are calculated, so 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

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

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the base, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp leads off the quarter with a marquee bet: a refashioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. targeting mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, Warner’s slate rolls out the capstone from its bankable horror series: 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. While the template is known, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

More contained by design is Together, a tight space body horror vignette led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a smart play. No swollen lore. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

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 gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror resurges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Season Ahead: Fall saturation and a winter joker

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 new fright year to come: returning titles, standalone ideas, plus A loaded Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The arriving terror year clusters in short order with a January bottleneck, then extends through summer corridors, and well into the winter holidays, fusing name recognition, untold stories, and smart counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are leaning into cost discipline, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that shape genre titles into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This space has solidified as the predictable release in studio lineups, a category that can scale when it hits and still limit the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted genre plays can dominate mainstream conversation, the following year held pace with festival-darling auteurs and word-of-mouth wins. The head of steam rolled into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and awards-minded projects highlighted there is a lane for several lanes, from series extensions to fresh IP that perform internationally. The net effect for 2026 is a programming that seems notably aligned across companies, with purposeful groupings, a spread of known properties and first-time concepts, and a refocused eye on exhibition windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and streaming.

Buyers contend the horror lane now operates like a versatile piece on the release plan. Horror can arrive on numerous frames, yield a clean hook for promo reels and UGC-friendly snippets, and over-index with audiences that show up on preview nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the offering satisfies. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration signals confidence in that equation. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January lineup, then turns to spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a autumn stretch that connects to spooky season and afterwards. The program also shows the greater integration of specialty distributors and OTT outlets that can launch in limited release, stoke social talk, and widen at the strategic time.

An added macro current is brand management across linked properties and storied titles. Studio teams are not just making another chapter. They are setting up connection with a sense of event, whether that is a title design that announces a refreshed voice or a talent selection that bridges a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the most watched originals are leaning into hands-on technique, physical gags and specific settings. That fusion gives the 2026 slate a robust balance of brand comfort and shock, which is how the genre sells abroad.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount leads early with two spotlight plays that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the heart, marketing it as both a baton pass and a DNA-forward relationship-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a memory-charged strategy without replaying the last two entries’ sibling arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with signature symbols, early character teases, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical 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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will play up. As horror a summer relief option, this one will go after mainstream recognition through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick pivots to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is clean, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to iterate on creepy live activations and micro spots that blurs intimacy and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a public title to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s releases are framed as creative events, with a teaser that holds back and a follow-up trailer set that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-month date opens a lane to maximize 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has made clear that a tactile, makeup-driven approach can feel elevated on a disciplined budget. Position this as a grime-caked summer horror hit that leans hard into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio lines up two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a evergreen supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has recalibrated 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 restarts in what the studio is describing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both players and new audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign creative around canon, and creature effects, elements that can accelerate large-format demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror defined by obsessive craft and language, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus’s team has already set the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is robust.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s releases shift to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ladder that fortifies both premiere heat and platform bumps in the downstream. Prime Video pairs third-party pickups with global pickups and small theatrical windows when the data points to it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog engagement, using in-app campaigns, horror hubs, and collection rows to prolong the run on lifetime take. Netflix keeps flexible about own-slate titles and festival buys, finalizing horror entries toward the drop and turning into events premieres with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of precision releases and quick platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to acquire select projects with established auteurs or star-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 track with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, retooled for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a cinema-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late-season weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday corridor to open out. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using precision theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is foregrounding character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and director-driven titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set announce the template. In 2023, a exclusive window model that held distribution windows did not hamper a parallel release from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror rose in premium screens. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they rotate perspective and expand the canvas. 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-film strategy, with chapters filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to continue assets in field without extended gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The shop talk behind the 2026 entries point to a continued move toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of this content the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that emphasizes tone and tension rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-referential reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature and environment design, which match well with expo activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that center fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that work in PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is busy. Universal’s 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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Post-January through spring prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. 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 moved through premium slots.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a pre-October slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s founding notes. 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 widowed man’s algorithmic partner evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss scramble to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power inverts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, shaped by Cronin’s in-camera craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting chiller that routes the horror through a minor’s unsteady POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-scale and name-above-title supernatural suspense.

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 spoof revival that riffs on present-day genre chatter and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites breaks out, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a unlucky family linked to ancient dread. Rating: TBA. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over action-forward bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: to be announced. 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 period-precise speech and primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or reshuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will jostle across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, 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 build month to month, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound field, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is IP strength where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.