Primeval Evil Emerges within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked horror feature, launching October 2025 across major platforms

A haunting spectral scare-fest from screenwriter / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primordial force when passersby become proxies in a supernatural ordeal. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping journey of overcoming and timeless dread that will resculpt fear-driven cinema this cool-weather season. Helmed by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and cinematic tale follows five individuals who arise ensnared in a hidden shelter under the sinister power of Kyra, a cursed figure consumed by a biblical-era holy text monster. Prepare to be hooked by a cinematic outing that harmonizes soul-chilling terror with biblical origins, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a recurring theme in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is redefined when the monsters no longer form from a different plane, but rather deep within. This illustrates the shadowy facet of the victims. The result is a harrowing mind game where the events becomes a brutal conflict between divinity and wickedness.


In a barren backcountry, five teens find themselves trapped under the ominous force and curse of a uncanny being. As the youths becomes incapable to evade her manipulation, cut off and chased by creatures beyond comprehension, they are obligated to reckon with their deepest fears while the clock harrowingly winds toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension builds and ties implode, compelling each soul to doubt their true nature and the idea of autonomy itself. The danger surge with every tick, delivering a fear-soaked story that blends paranormal dread with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to awaken primitive panic, an entity older than civilization itself, working through our weaknesses, and dealing with a evil that challenges autonomy when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra required summoning something far beyond human desperation. She is innocent until the evil takes hold, and that metamorphosis is eerie because it is so internal.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for public screening beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—delivering horror lovers in all regions can get immersed in this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first preview, which has gathered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, exporting the fear to horror fans worldwide.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable descent into hell. Face *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these ghostly lessons about our species.


For film updates, filmmaker commentary, and press updates directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s sea change: 2025 for genre fans American release plan fuses legend-infused possession, Indie Shockers, alongside IP aftershocks

Kicking off with fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with primordial scripture and including legacy revivals alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like the genre’s most multifaceted paired with carefully orchestrated year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio powerhouses bookend the months via recognizable brands, even as subscription platforms load up the fall with debut heat plus primordial unease. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is riding the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween stays the prime week, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The fall stretch is the proving field, distinctly in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are disciplined, which means 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium genre swings back

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal begins the calendar with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

As summer winds down, Warner Bros. launches the swan song from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. 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.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This run ups the stakes, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Offerings: No Budget, No Problem

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a sealed box body horror arc fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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 a clever angle. No puffed out backstory. No sequel clutter. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

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

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Heritage Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Signals and Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

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

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theaters 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 still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Season Ahead: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 spook slate: follow-ups, Originals, together with A stacked Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek: The brand-new horror season crams up front with a January logjam, after that stretches through June and July, and pushing into the holiday frame, braiding brand heft, novel approaches, and savvy release strategy. The major players are committing to tight budgets, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that elevate the slate’s entries into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable lever in studio slates, a vertical that can spike when it hits and still safeguard the exposure when it falls short. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that disciplined-budget scare machines can shape the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The tailwind translated to the 2025 frame, where revived properties and critical darlings signaled there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to original features that travel well. The sum for 2026 is a schedule that shows rare alignment across the market, with clear date clusters, a balance of marquee IP and untested plays, and a re-energized focus on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium home window and home platforms.

Planners observe the horror lane now serves as a schedule utility on the programming map. The genre can arrive on virtually any date, yield a grabby hook for previews and TikTok spots, and outperform with fans that arrive on previews Thursday and hold through the next pass if the movie hits. Coming out of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 setup reflects conviction in that approach. The calendar commences with a crowded January lineup, then exploits spring through early summer for contrast, while carving room for a fall cadence that connects to Halloween and past the holiday. The gridline also underscores the ongoing integration of indie arms and SVOD players that can platform and widen, grow buzz, and roll out at the inflection point.

A notable top-line trend is IP stewardship across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. The players are not just producing another sequel. They are trying to present lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title design that announces a refreshed voice or a casting choice that threads a latest entry to a heyday. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are embracing in-camera technique, practical effects and place-driven backdrops. That convergence hands the 2026 slate a solid mix of trust and freshness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount leads early with two front-of-slate plays that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character piece. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach telegraphs a roots-evoking strategy without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive driven by franchise iconography, character spotlights, and a two-beat trailer plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will double down on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after wide buzz through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format making room for quick shifts to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct plays. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tight, tragic, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an machine companion that mutates into a harmful mate. The date lines it up at the front of a heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to iterate on creepy live activations and snackable content that mixes love and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s work are positioned as filmmaker events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has proven that a blood-soaked, on-set effects led execution can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror blast that centers overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio rolls out two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is positioning as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both diehards and curious audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build marketing units around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can drive premium screens and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on minute detail and historical speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that amplifies both first-week urgency and sub growth in the later phase. Prime Video pairs catalogue additions with world buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in deep cuts, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and curated rows to stretch the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix retains agility about first-party entries and festival acquisitions, locking in horror entries closer to drop and turning into events drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of targeted theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has indicated interest to purchase select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, elevated 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 telegraphed a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festival season if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas window to scale. That positioning has shown results for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception merits. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using precision theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By tilt, 2026 leans in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on cultural cachet. The caveat, as ever, is overexposure. The go-to fix is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-inflected take from a ascendant talent. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the cast-creatives package is familiar enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years help explain the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not obstruct a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror surged in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to tie installments through relationships and themes and to leave creative active without long gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre point to a continued shift toward tactile, location-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 lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that leans on creep and texture rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and era-correct language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead press and artisan spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta-horror reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which match well with fan conventions and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that highlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month ends 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 thick, but the spread of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Late Q1 and spring stage summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s digital partner evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. 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 unyielding boss try to survive on a rugged island as the power balance shifts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to dread, anchored by Cronin’s practical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting chiller that mediates the fear via a little one’s wavering subjective view. Rating: rating pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-crafted and star-led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that targets hot-button genre motifs and true-crime manias. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family entangled with past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: pending. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in classic survival-horror tone over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: undetermined. Production: ongoing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three operational forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate repeatable beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth check over here element is the programming calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can seize a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will share space across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 quiet 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, 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 beat and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, 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 grain, sound, and camera work 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 Promising 2026

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.