Age-old Evil rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, premiering Oct 2025 across major platforms

An spine-tingling mystic scare-fest from screenwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an mythic nightmare when newcomers become victims in a satanic trial. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of struggle and timeless dread that will reconstruct horror this cool-weather season. Created by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and moody feature follows five lost souls who wake up confined in a remote cabin under the sinister influence of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a time-worn Old Testament spirit. Steel yourself to be drawn in by a big screen event that integrates soul-chilling terror with ancestral stories, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a time-honored concept in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is flipped when the presences no longer arise externally, but rather inside their minds. This depicts the haunting element of the victims. The result is a psychologically brutal cognitive warzone where the story becomes a ongoing fight between right and wrong.


In a forsaken natural abyss, five characters find themselves trapped under the sinister effect and spiritual invasion of a haunted figure. As the cast becomes incapable to fight her will, abandoned and pursued by terrors ungraspable, they are obligated to confront their deepest fears while the countdown mercilessly draws closer toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease deepens and partnerships splinter, demanding each individual to contemplate their self and the principle of liberty itself. The tension mount with every second, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that harmonizes mystical fear with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to draw upon elemental fright, an curse beyond time, feeding on our fears, and confronting a being that threatens selfhood when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant channeling something beneath mortal despair. She is innocent until the evil takes hold, and that turn is gut-wrenching because it is so internal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing fans around the globe can dive into this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first preview, which has been viewed over six-figure audience.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, offering the tale to global fright lovers.


Be sure to catch this visceral exploration of dread. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to acknowledge these chilling revelations about inner darkness.


For previews, special features, and insider scoops from the cast and crew, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit youngandcursed.com.





Current horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup interlaces archetypal-possession themes, indie terrors, set against brand-name tremors

Spanning endurance-driven terror inspired by biblical myth to installment follow-ups set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the most complex in tandem with precision-timed year of the last decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio majors lock in tentpoles through proven series, in tandem digital services saturate the fall with debut heat alongside ancient terrors. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the kinetic energy from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The fall stretch is the proving field, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, accordingly 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige terror resurfaces

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 doubles down.

Universal begins the calendar with a big gambit: a contemporary Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Eli Craig directs starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate bows the concluding entry from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. This run ups the stakes, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, grows the animatronic horror lineup, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It arrives in December, buttoning the final window.

Streamer Exclusives: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. 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, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga led by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed 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 night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

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 an astute call. No bloated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Brands: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, guided by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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

What to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The coming 2026 spook slate: next chapters, Originals, as well as A stacked Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The emerging scare slate crams in short order with a January crush, following that extends through peak season, and deep into the year-end corridor, fusing brand equity, novel approaches, and calculated calendar placement. Studios and platforms are betting on mid-range economics, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that convert horror entries into water-cooler talk.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror sector has established itself as the surest option in distribution calendars, a genre that can surge when it catches and still hedge the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to leaders that responsibly budgeted entries can shape the zeitgeist, 2024 sustained momentum with auteur-driven buzzy films and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam fed into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects confirmed there is a market for different modes, from legacy continuations to filmmaker-driven originals that translate worldwide. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with strategic blocks, a equilibrium of brand names and new pitches, and a renewed priority on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital and digital services.

Marketers add the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the distribution slate. Horror can bow on numerous frames, supply a simple premise for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and overperform with demo groups that come out on early shows and stay strong through the next weekend if the film satisfies. Emerging from a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 layout exhibits confidence in that approach. The calendar rolls out with a stacked January band, then exploits spring through early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a late-year stretch that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The arrangement also illustrates the ongoing integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and roll out at the proper time.

An added macro current is series management across shared IP webs and storied titles. The players are not just greenlighting another continuation. They are shaping as lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a casting move that anchors a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the top original plays are returning to in-camera technique, practical effects and grounded locations. That convergence gives 2026 a lively combination of known notes and invention, which is the formula for international play.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount sets the tone early with two headline releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a lineage transfer and a heritage-centered character-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a roots-evoking treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected rooted in heritage visuals, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will feature. As a summer relief option, this one will generate mass reach through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick updates to whatever dominates the conversation that spring.

Universal has three discrete releases. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is straightforward, soulful, and easily pitched: a grieving man sets up an intelligent companion that unfolds into a murderous partner. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s campaign likely to recreate eerie street stunts and snackable content that hybridizes longing and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an event moment closer to the early tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Completing 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 prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a visceral, practical-effects forward strategy can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror hit that maximizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio lines up two brand-forward plays in the back half. An have a peek at these guys untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is billing as a from-the-ground-up reboot 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 mission to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build marketing units around world-building, and creature work, elements that can increase premium booking interest and fandom activation.

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 builds on Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in textural authenticity and historical speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s slate window into copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that boosts both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video stitches together licensed titles with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to sustain interest on lifetime take. Netflix plays opportunist about internal projects and festival snaps, slotting horror entries on shorter runways and coalescing around go-lives with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of precision releases and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a selective basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation peaks.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 corridor with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is no-nonsense: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, modernized for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has paid off for arthouse horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception encourages. Be ready for 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 in parallel, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By proportion, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate cultural cachet. The risk, as ever, is overexposure. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is foregrounding character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a European tilt from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps announce the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that maintained windows did not preclude a same-day experiment from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror punched above its weight in PLF. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel new when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, creates space for marketing to link the films through character and theme and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind these films suggest a continued move toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with 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 centers grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely frame 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 clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature design and production design, which match well with expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that explode in larger rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is full. 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 quiet contrast amid headline IP. The month caps 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 credible, but the range of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth persists.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates 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-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-October slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s synthetic partner becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: mood-led 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 difficult boss claw to survive on a far-flung island as the pecking order inverts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fright, founded on Cronin’s on-set craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting scenario that leverages the chill of a child’s fragile perspective. Rating: forthcoming. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-financed and marquee-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that skewers current genre trends and true crime fervors. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family caught in old terrors. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in pure survival horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 language and bone-deep menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on social-ready stingers from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

The slot calculus is real. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will cluster across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where my review here horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, lean footprints, 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 grain, sonics, and picture 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the fear sell the seats.