Antediluvian Horror Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding horror thriller, bowing October 2025 across global platforms

This blood-curdling unearthly nightmare movie from scriptwriter / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an age-old horror when unrelated individuals become pawns in a hellish game. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing narrative of endurance and prehistoric entity that will remodel horror this scare season. Directed by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and shadowy story follows five young adults who suddenly rise stranded in a unreachable dwelling under the menacing control of Kyra, a tormented girl claimed by a ancient biblical demon. Prepare to be captivated by a motion picture adventure that merges intense horror with mythic lore, premiering 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 iconic narrative in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is flipped when the fiends no longer arise from an outside force, but rather internally. This marks the most hidden layer of the cast. The result is a gripping emotional conflict where the narrative becomes a soul-crushing push-pull between right and wrong.


In a unforgiving woodland, five teens find themselves imprisoned under the fiendish dominion and spiritual invasion of a haunted entity. As the survivors becomes incapable to reject her influence, disconnected and tormented by forces beyond reason, they are made to battle their darkest emotions while the seconds without pity counts down toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia rises and alliances dissolve, demanding each cast member to examine their identity and the notion of self-determination itself. The hazard escalate with every instant, delivering a chilling narrative that connects paranormal dread with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to explore instinctual horror, an force from ancient eras, channeling itself through human fragility, and wrestling with a presence that questions who we are when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra was centered on something outside normal anguish. She is insensitive until the demon emerges, and that change is haunting because it is so private.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for home viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing households across the world can engage with this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has been viewed over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, delivering the story to a global viewership.


Mark your calendar for this visceral exploration of dread. Join *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to confront these chilling revelations about the mind.


For teasers, making-of footage, and reveals from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Modern horror’s inflection point: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate blends Mythic Possession, indie terrors, plus legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare suffused with primordial scripture and including series comebacks set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the most variegated along with calculated campaign year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios set cornerstones with franchise anchors, simultaneously premium streamers crowd the fall with fresh voices together with scriptural shivers. In parallel, the artisan tier is surfing the carry of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, which means 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

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

Universal starts the year with a marquee bet: a modernized Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. timed for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner rolls out the capstone from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: 70s style chill, trauma driven plotting, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The ante is higher this round, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, stretches the animatronic parade, courting teens and the thirty something base. It posts in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: 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

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. 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.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No puffed out backstory. No continuity burden. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Long Running Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

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

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Key Trends

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror comes roaring back
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. 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 mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 genre calendar year ahead: continuations, new stories, And A Crowded Calendar tailored for chills

Dek The current genre slate crowds right away with a January cluster, then runs through midyear, and deep into the festive period, marrying brand heft, original angles, and well-timed alternatives. Distributors with platforms are embracing responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that convert these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has established itself as the surest release in annual schedules, a space that can lift when it performs and still hedge the downside when it does not. After the 2023 year re-taught greenlighters that mid-range horror vehicles can galvanize mainstream conversation, the following year extended the rally with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The momentum rolled into the 2025 frame, where legacy revivals and elevated films showed there is space for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to filmmaker-driven originals that scale internationally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across players, with defined corridors, a mix of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a revived strategy on theatrical windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium rental and OTT platforms.

Planners observe the category now works like a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can open on a wide range of weekends, deliver a clear pitch for previews and TikTok spots, and outperform with crowds that come out on first-look nights and hold through the follow-up frame if the title lands. After a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 rhythm underscores certainty in that model. The year begins with a weighty January block, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while clearing room for a October build that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The map also spotlights the ongoing integration of specialty arms and streaming partners that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the timely point.

A parallel macro theme is IP cultivation across connected story worlds and veteran brands. Studios are not just pushing another return. They are working to present connection with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that telegraphs a fresh attitude or a cast configuration that binds a upcoming film to a first wave. At the alongside this, the creative teams behind the eagerly awaited originals are prioritizing physical effects work, physical gags and distinct locales. That alloy yields the 2026 slate a robust balance of home base and surprise, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount opens strong with two prominent releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a legacy handover and a origin-leaning character-first story. Production is active in Atlanta, and the creative posture indicates a roots-evoking framework without looping the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive built on recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a staggered trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens 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 as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will feature. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after broad awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick updates to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three unique plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, heartbroken, and premise-first: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that mutates into a perilous partner. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s promo team likely to replay uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that threads longing and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the initial tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. The filmmaker’s films are set up as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a later creative that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to command 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has consistently shown that a visceral, on-set effects led treatment can feel deluxe on a tight budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror rush that pushes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is billing as a reimagined restart 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 directive to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build promo materials around lore, and monster craft, elements that can accelerate IMAX and PLF uptake and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets 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 rigorous craft and dialect, this time circling werewolf lore. The company has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform windowing in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre slate move to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ladder that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the late-window. Prime Video combines third-party pickups with global originals and targeted theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog engagement, using curated hubs, fright rows, and featured rows to stretch the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix originals and festival additions, finalizing horror entries near their drops and staging as events premieres with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a laddered of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for sustained usage when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is simple: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, upgraded for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a theatrical rollout for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the December frame to widen. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-driven genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using precision theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their community.

Brands and originals

By weight, the 2026 slate skews toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage marquee value. The trade-off, as ever, is staleness. The pragmatic answer is to frame each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is foregrounding core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a continental coloration from a fresh helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the bundle is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

The last three-year set help explain the playbook. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that held distribution windows did not deter a day-date move from thriving when the brand was compelling. In 2024, auteur craft horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters shot in tandem, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through character web and themes and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

Craft and creative trends

The creative meetings behind the year’s horror suggest a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that centers unease and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta reframe that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will live or die on monster realization and design, which favor booth activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that emphasize precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that benefit on big speakers.

The schedule at a glance

January is heavy. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid marquee brands. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the variety of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Late Q1 and spring prepare summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August and September into October leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited teasers that lean on concept have a peek here not plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Title briefs within the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s synthetic partner unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 tough boss try to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance turns and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to menace, based on Cronin’s practical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting scenario that routes the horror through a preteen’s unsteady inner lens. Rating: to be announced. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed and headline-actor led haunting thriller.

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 satire sequel that satirizes current genre trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family tethered to long-buried horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: forthcoming. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 menace. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 and why now

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that eased or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage clippable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or stand as the older-leaning great post to read counter. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will compete across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where midrange-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting weblink 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, 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 tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shocks sell the seats.