Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons primeval malevolence, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

An frightening paranormal suspense film from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an long-buried dread when outsiders become conduits in a satanic game. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving saga of resilience and forgotten curse that will transform fear-driven cinema this autumn. Guided by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and immersive suspense flick follows five characters who wake up imprisoned in a isolated lodge under the ominous will of Kyra, a haunted figure inhabited by a time-worn religious nightmare. Be prepared to be hooked by a narrative event that unites deep-seated panic with timeless legends, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a historical theme in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is reversed when the forces no longer form outside their bodies, but rather internally. This embodies the most sinister element of these individuals. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a ongoing clash between purity and corruption.


In a barren forest, five figures find themselves imprisoned under the malevolent influence and infestation of a unidentified female figure. As the survivors becomes vulnerable to resist her curse, abandoned and chased by forces indescribable, they are driven to stand before their emotional phantoms while the seconds relentlessly moves toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety grows and partnerships shatter, coercing each survivor to reconsider their being and the idea of volition itself. The consequences amplify with every passing moment, delivering a horror experience that connects supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to explore elemental fright, an power that existed before mankind, influencing our fears, and questioning a power that challenges autonomy when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra meant channeling something deeper than fear. She is insensitive until the control shifts, and that pivot is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—allowing streamers in all regions can be part of this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first trailer, which has garnered over 100K plays.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, making the film to international horror buffs.


Make sure to see this heart-stopping fall into madness. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to experience these evil-rooted truths about the mind.


For cast commentary, making-of footage, and insider scoops from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across online outlets and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s sea change: 2025 for genre fans U.S. lineup fuses legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, together with returning-series thunder

Across survival horror steeped in mythic scripture and stretching into series comebacks together with acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned paired with precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios set cornerstones by way of signature titles, even as streamers stack the fall with unboxed visions set against primordial unease. At the same time, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the echoes of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, which means 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: The Return of Prestige Fear

The top end is active. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 doubles down.

Universal starts the year with a big gambit: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. Guided by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Slated for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. delivers the closing chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: retrograde shiver, trauma explicitly handled, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The ante is higher this round, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The new chapter enriches the lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It lands in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga with Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No legacy baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Heritage Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, 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. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trend Lines

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror ascends again
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching fright season: installments, Originals, alongside A Crowded Calendar optimized for Scares

Dek: The brand-new terror cycle clusters early with a January glut, before it carries through summer, and far into the holiday stretch, blending IP strength, creative pitches, and savvy counterplay. Studios and streamers are embracing smart costs, big-screen-first runs, and shareable marketing that frame these pictures into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has become the most reliable move in studio lineups, a vertical that can lift when it lands and still mitigate the floor when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year proved to strategy teams that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can galvanize pop culture, 2024 kept energy high with auteur-driven buzzy films and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and premium-leaning entries signaled there is room for different modes, from continued chapters to one-and-done originals that travel well. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across studios, with obvious clusters, a mix of legacy names and untested plays, and a reinvigorated priority on exclusive windows that fuel later windows on premium video on demand and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now acts as a versatile piece on the grid. The genre can bow on almost any weekend, create a sharp concept for creative and TikTok spots, and overperform with viewers that lean in on previews Thursday and keep coming through the follow-up frame if the release pays off. After a work stoppage lag, the 2026 plan telegraphs trust in that approach. The slate gets underway with a stacked January schedule, then uses spring and early summer for contrast, while making space for a September to October window that runs into spooky season and past Halloween. The calendar also illustrates the tightening integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can platform and widen, create conversation, and widen at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is series management across unified worlds and veteran brands. Big banners are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are moving to present lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a art treatment that signals a reframed mood or a casting choice that anchors a new entry to a early run. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the most anticipated originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, practical effects and grounded locations. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and freshness, which is how the films export.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two marquee releases that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the focus, setting it up as both a handoff and a rootsy character-first story. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the story approach suggests a roots-evoking bent without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave stacked with heritage visuals, character previews, and a tease cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counter-slot, this one will drive broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick shifts to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is simple, sorrow-tinged, and logline-clear: a grieving man installs an machine companion that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a thick month, with the Universal machine likely to replay strange in-person beats and micro spots that interweaves devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title reveal to become an headline beat closer to the debut look. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are set up as filmmaker events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later trailer push that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has proven that a tactile, hands-on effects aesthetic can feel big on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a red-band summer horror hit that pushes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio sets two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, preserving a proven supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is marketing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around mythos, and creature work, elements that can boost IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and historical speech, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate land on copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that amplifies both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video will mix acquired titles with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in deep cuts, using timely promos, October hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival acquisitions, scheduling horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops debuts with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a dual-phase of selective theatrical runs and accelerated platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has been willing to invest in select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds 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 key factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 arc with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has delivered for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception encourages. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using boutique theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By volume, 2026 favors the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on marquee value. The watch-out, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to package each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is elevating relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-accented approach from a rising filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and talent-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is anchored enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps frame the model. In 2023, a cinema-first model that respected streaming windows did not deter a dual release from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, auteur craft horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they shift POV and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to cross-link entries through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The creative meetings behind 2026 horror point to a continued turn toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that foregrounds mood and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta-horror reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which fit with convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that sing on PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is loaded. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid heftier brand moves. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the tonal variety makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now sustains 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 unleashes hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a peekaboo tease plan and limited asset reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion unfolds into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is 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 coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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 run into a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 severe boss scramble to survive on a uninhabited island as the hierarchy shifts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fear, shaped by Cronin’s practical effects and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that refracts terror through a little one’s uncertain internal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A genre lampoon that pokes at current genre trends and true-crime manias. Rating: undetermined. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 bursts, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a unlucky family snared by returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

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

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and ancient menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or migrated in 2024 required runway my review here on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and pared-down 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 releases. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine bite-size scare clips from test screenings, select scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can capture a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will trade weekends across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, aural design, and image-making 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

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is franchise muscle where it helps, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the frights sell the seats.