Antediluvian Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across top digital platforms

This frightening supernatural terror film from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an prehistoric terror when strangers become tokens in a cursed ceremony. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense episode of endurance and archaic horror that will remodel genre cinema this scare season. Realized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and gothic motion picture follows five teens who come to trapped in a far-off cabin under the oppressive will of Kyra, a troubled woman occupied by a time-worn biblical force. Prepare to be drawn in by a filmic presentation that unites bodily fright with arcane tradition, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a historical trope in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is inverted when the monsters no longer emerge from external sources, but rather from within. This marks the most hidden shade of the players. The result is a gripping mind game where the drama becomes a merciless conflict between right and wrong.


In a bleak terrain, five adults find themselves contained under the malevolent force and control of a obscure entity. As the victims becomes defenseless to break her will, abandoned and tormented by entities beyond reason, they are confronted to encounter their darkest emotions while the doomsday meter without pity strikes toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust swells and teams dissolve, driving each soul to question their true nature and the idea of autonomy itself. The hazard grow with every minute, delivering a paranormal ride that fuses supernatural terror with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to evoke deep fear, an presence older than civilization itself, feeding on soul-level flaws, and confronting a curse that challenges autonomy when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra called for internalizing something unfamiliar to reason. She is uninformed until the spirit seizes her, and that shift is terrifying because it is so private.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be available for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that horror lovers in all regions can face this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over strong viewer count.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Do not miss this heart-stopping voyage through terror. Face *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to face these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, behind-the-scenes content, and reveals directly from production, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie’s homepage.





Current horror’s sea change: 2025 in focus U.S. Slate interlaces biblical-possession ideas, microbudget gut-punches, and Franchise Rumbles

Ranging from survivor-centric dread infused with biblical myth to installment follow-ups in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become the most variegated in tandem with strategic year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios are anchoring the year using marquee IP, simultaneously digital services front-load the fall with emerging auteurs in concert with archetypal fear. In parallel, indie storytellers is drafting behind the echoes from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween holding the peak, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are precise, which means 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige fear returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures fires the first shot with an audacious swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. From director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner’s schedule sets loose the finale from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retrograde shiver, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. The bar is raised this go, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Firsts: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a room scale body horror descent with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No IP hangover. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror comes roaring back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

What’s Next: Fall stack and winter swing card

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The coming 2026 chiller year to come: installments, new stories, plus A loaded Calendar calibrated for nightmares

Dek The fresh terror season crams in short order with a January cluster, before it extends through the warm months, and straight through the holiday stretch, weaving brand heft, original angles, and tactical counterweight. Distributors with platforms are relying on cost discipline, theatrical leads, and buzz-forward plans that frame these offerings into all-audience topics.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This space has become the steady lever in distribution calendars, a lane that can spike when it clicks and still hedge the liability when it under-delivers. After 2023 reassured studio brass that efficiently budgeted chillers can command the discourse, the following year held pace with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The tailwind pushed into 2025, where re-entries and awards-minded projects made clear there is room for diverse approaches, from series extensions to fresh IP that translate worldwide. The net effect for 2026 is a lineup that presents tight coordination across distributors, with mapped-out bands, a equilibrium of established brands and fresh ideas, and a refocused priority on exhibition windows that drive downstream revenue on paid VOD and home platforms.

Buyers contend the horror lane now serves as a plug-and-play option on the calendar. The genre can arrive on almost any weekend, yield a sharp concept for marketing and reels, and overperform with audiences that lean in on advance nights and hold through the sophomore frame if the title hits. Emerging from a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration signals trust in that engine. The slate gets underway with a heavy January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while carving room for a autumn stretch that extends to the Halloween corridor and into post-Halloween. The schedule also features the greater integration of indie distributors and subscription services that can develop over weeks, stoke social talk, and move wide at the inflection point.

A companion trend is legacy care across shared IP webs and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just pushing another continuation. They are shaping as lore continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title treatment that flags a tonal shift or a star attachment that connects a new installment to a vintage era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and site-specific worlds. That combination delivers 2026 a solid mix of known notes and unexpected turns, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two marquee entries that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a relay and a back-to-basics character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture indicates a roots-evoking angle without recycling the last two entries’ sisters thread. Look for a marketing run driven by classic imagery, character previews, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will pursue wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever defines the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three unique projects. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is efficient, somber, and concept-forward: a grieving man sets up an synthetic partner that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date puts it at the front of a crowded corridor, with marketing at Universal likely to iterate on viral uncanny stunts and short-form creative that interlaces attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a official title to become an earned moment closer to the initial tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are set up as marquee events, with a teaser that reveals little and a second trailer wave that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot allows Universal to lead 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has made clear that a gritty, makeup-driven execution can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror shot that maximizes 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 opens August 21, 2026, holding a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is selling as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both fans and new audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around setting detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can drive deluxe auditorium demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by historical precision and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is positive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform tactics for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that elevates both initial urgency and subscriber lifts in the downstream. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide entries and limited runs in theaters when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and collection rows to prolong the run on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix originals and festival grabs, confirming horror entries on shorter runways and turning into events rollouts with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a staged of targeted theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to board select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 arc with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is straightforward: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, modernized for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the December frame to broaden. That positioning has paid off for auteur horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception supports. Do not be surprised by 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 partners, using select theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their audience.

Brands and originals

By weight, 2026 leans in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The watch-out, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is spotlighting character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries keep the lungs full. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the cast-creatives package is steady enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years clarify the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept streaming intact did not preclude a day-date move from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, director-craft horror punched above its weight in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reframe POV and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to link the films through character arcs and themes and to keep assets alive without dead zones.

How the look and feel evolve

The creative meetings behind the upcoming entries point to a continued emphasis on tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that leans on unease and texture rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta recalibration that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to con floor moments and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that explode in larger rooms.

Release calendar overview

January is full. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid headline IP. 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 stiff, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Winter into spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that have a peek at these guys are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a slow-reveal plan and limited plot reveals that put concept first.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Title briefs within the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s AI companion becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially 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 ventures 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 and theatrical on deck. Positioning: aura-driven 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 battle to survive on a lonely island as the power balance tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. 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 home-set haunting story that explores the fright of a child’s fragile perspective. Rating: forthcoming. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral 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 parody return that needles modern genre fads and true-crime buzz. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 breaks out, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family bound to older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A new start designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: closely held. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate repeatable beats from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can command a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will jostle across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, 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 breakout hunt 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, 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 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 trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sonics, 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 Strong 2026 Horizon

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is name recognition where it counts, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the scares sell the seats.