Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens ancient terror, a spine tingling feature, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

An spine-tingling supernatural scare-fest from cinematographer / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial terror when drifters become victims in a dark experiment. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking portrayal of endurance and timeless dread that will revamp the horror genre this spooky time. Guided by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and claustrophobic thriller follows five characters who are stirred sealed in a cut-off wooden structure under the hostile will of Kyra, a female lead claimed by a timeless biblical demon. Ready yourself to be enthralled by a screen-based spectacle that unites visceral dread with ancient myths, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic element in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is challenged when the spirits no longer arise outside their bodies, but rather internally. This symbolizes the darkest side of every character. The result is a bone-chilling spiritual tug-of-war where the conflict becomes a perpetual battle between heaven and hell.


In a forsaken landscape, five figures find themselves cornered under the evil sway and overtake of a uncanny character. As the team becomes unresisting to evade her grasp, stranded and tormented by beings beyond comprehension, they are compelled to acknowledge their darkest emotions while the countdown without pity pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread grows and relationships splinter, forcing each participant to doubt their core and the notion of freedom of choice itself. The cost amplify with every fleeting time, delivering a horror experience that weaves together ghostly evil with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke elemental fright, an threat beyond recorded history, emerging via our weaknesses, and testing a spirit that dismantles free will when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something rooted in terror. She is uninformed until the entity awakens, and that transformation is harrowing because it is so personal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that subscribers no matter where they are can survive this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its initial teaser, which has seen over notable views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, delivering the story to global fright lovers.


Witness this unforgettable exploration of dread. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to experience these terrifying truths about the human condition.


For film updates, behind-the-scenes content, and reveals from the story's source, follow @YACMovie across media channels and visit the film’s website.





American horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 in focus U.S. calendar melds biblical-possession ideas, independent shockers, in parallel with brand-name tremors

Across survival horror suffused with old testament echoes as well as installment follow-ups plus pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted as well as deliberate year since the mid-2010s.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio majors stabilize the year with franchise anchors, concurrently streaming platforms flood the fall with unboxed visions together with legend-coded dread. On another front, festival-forward creators is propelled by the tailwinds from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween holding the peak, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, however this time, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are calculated, so 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal opens the year with a marquee bet: a refreshed Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer tapers, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retrograde shiver, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The bar is raised this go, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The next entry deepens the tale, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It hits in December, buttoning the final window.

SVOD Originals: Economy, maximum dread

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative led by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is canny scheduling. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Brands: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror returns
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

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. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming chiller cycle: installments, fresh concepts, and also A Crowded Calendar designed for chills

Dek: The fresh horror year crams from the jump with a January crush, before it spreads through summer, and running into the December corridor, mixing brand heft, inventive spins, and smart release strategy. Studios with streamers are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that shape horror entries into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has turned into the consistent counterweight in release plans, a segment that can spike when it breaks through and still hedge the risk when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year showed executives that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can galvanize the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with director-led heat and under-the-radar smashes. The momentum flowed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and festival-grade titles made clear there is demand for many shades, from returning installments to one-and-done originals that travel well. The end result for 2026 is a grid that reads highly synchronized across the field, with mapped-out bands, a mix of established brands and new concepts, and a renewed commitment on exclusive windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on paid VOD and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the category now behaves like a flex slot on the calendar. The genre can premiere on most weekends, supply a quick sell for teasers and TikTok spots, and over-index with moviegoers that line up on early shows and stay strong through the sophomore frame if the title fires. Coming out of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence shows trust in that playbook. The calendar rolls out with a stacked January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a October build that runs into All Hallows period and past Halloween. The map also spotlights the deeper integration of specialized imprints and SVOD players that can develop over weeks, spark evangelism, and move wide at the proper time.

A parallel macro theme is legacy care across linked properties and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another next film. They are shaping as story carry-over with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that telegraphs a re-angled tone or a cast configuration that binds a new installment to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the creative teams behind the high-profile originals are embracing in-camera technique, on-set effects and location-forward worlds. That alloy gives 2026 a vital pairing of comfort and freshness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount establishes early momentum with two high-profile pushes that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, positioning the film as both a cross-generational handoff and a DNA-forward character-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture telegraphs a legacy-leaning approach without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign centered on classic imagery, intro reveals, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will stress. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will seek broad awareness through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format inviting quick adjustments to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three unique plays. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is efficient, heartbroken, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an digital partner that unfolds into a harmful mate. The date sets it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back viral uncanny stunts and micro spots that hybridizes love and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an event moment closer to the initial promo. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His entries are marketed as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date creates space for Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has shown that a gritty, physical-effects centered method can feel high-value on a lean spend. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror rush that centers foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio rolls out two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, holding a evergreen supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is positioning as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot lets Sony to build marketing units around mythos, and creature builds, elements that can amplify large-format demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror defined by obsessive craft and textual fidelity, this time focused on werewolf legend. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early have a peek here reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Digital strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries head to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a stair-step that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video continues to mix licensed content with global acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in deep cuts, using timely promos, holiday hubs, and programmed rows to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival grabs, securing horror entries with shorter lead times and positioning as event drops debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a tiered of precision theatrical plays and accelerated platforming that translates talk to trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to board select projects with recognized filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for monthly engagement when the genre conversation intensifies.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, elevated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late stretch.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday frame to move out. That positioning has been successful for craft-driven horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception encourages. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their audience.

IP versus fresh ideas

By count, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage brand equity. The concern, as ever, is overexposure. The operating solution is to brand each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is spotlighting core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the configuration is known enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

Recent comps help explain the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that preserved streaming windows did not stop a parallel release from thriving when the brand was powerful. In 2024, art-forward horror hit big in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot in tandem, creates space for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and horror to hold creative in the market without pause points.

Creative tendencies and craft

The director conversations behind 2026 horror forecast a continued bias toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that elevates mood and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft coverage before rolling out a first look that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta reframe that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature craft and set design, which fit with fan-con activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that center surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month wraps 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 stiff, but the spread of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth persists.

February through May set up the summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on my review here early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a bridge slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a peekaboo tease plan and limited disclosures that put concept first.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and holiday card usage.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s core. 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 devastated man’s synthetic partner evolves into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 demanding boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the control dynamic flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, built on Cronin’s practical craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that explores the horror of a child’s inconsistent POV. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-crafted 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 participating creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that needles current genre trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: undetermined. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new household bound to returning horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 ancient menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the moment is 2026

Three hands-on forces drive this lineup. First, production that paused or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured 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 launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, providing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will coexist across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the target range. 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, 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 surface detail, sound, and cinematography that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand heft where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.