Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes antediluvian malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, bowing October 2025 across top digital platforms

An frightening supernatural suspense film from author / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primeval curse when drifters become tokens in a devilish maze. Debuting October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing journey of struggle and primeval wickedness that will reimagine the fear genre this autumn. Created by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and shadowy cinema piece follows five teens who are stirred isolated in a wooded structure under the dark command of Kyra, a female presence consumed by a ancient biblical demon. Arm yourself to be absorbed by a screen-based adventure that combines intense horror with mythic lore, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a iconic narrative in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is subverted when the spirits no longer form beyond the self, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the darkest shade of all involved. The result is a gripping psychological battle where the events becomes a brutal confrontation between heaven and hell.


In a unforgiving no-man's-land, five characters find themselves stuck under the evil force and grasp of a shadowy character. As the youths becomes defenseless to evade her manipulation, abandoned and chased by evils unfathomable, they are compelled to acknowledge their darkest emotions while the deathwatch unforgivingly edges forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear grows and partnerships collapse, driving each figure to reflect on their self and the integrity of conscious will itself. The pressure mount with every beat, delivering a nightmarish journey that marries occult fear with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to extract raw dread, an spirit older than civilization itself, channeling itself through our fears, and navigating a curse that questions who we are when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra involved tapping into something deeper than fear. She is innocent until the evil takes hold, and that turn is terrifying because it is so deep.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring users around the globe can be part of this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has gathered over massive response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, bringing the film to scare fans abroad.


Join this life-altering descent into hell. Stream *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to face these fearful discoveries about mankind.


For previews, on-set glimpses, and news from the cast and crew, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit the film’s website.





U.S. horror’s sea change: 2025 in focus U.S. release slate interlaces primeval-possession lore, festival-born jolts, stacked beside franchise surges

Moving from endurance-driven terror rooted in scriptural legend and stretching into series comebacks paired with pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted as well as blueprinted year in years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio majors are anchoring the year using marquee IP, while digital services stack the fall with new voices as well as old-world menace. On the independent axis, festival-forward creators is catching the tailwinds of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, yet in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are intentional, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige terror resurfaces

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 accelerates.

Universal kicks off the frame with a confident swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Slated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer tapers, the WB camp sets loose the finale from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson re teams, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: No Budget, No Problem

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

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is a smart play. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be 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.

Trend Lines

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

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

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Forward View: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The coming 2026 spook lineup: returning titles, standalone ideas, together with A Crowded Calendar optimized for frights

Dek The emerging terror cycle packs early with a January wave, subsequently extends through the summer months, and running into the year-end corridor, combining legacy muscle, fresh ideas, and well-timed counterprogramming. Studios with streamers are committing to cost discipline, box-office-first windows, and viral-minded pushes that frame genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The field has grown into the sturdy swing in programming grids, a segment that can spike when it catches and still safeguard the losses when it misses. After 2023 signaled to strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can dominate cultural conversation, the following year continued the surge with signature-voice projects and word-of-mouth wins. The head of steam fed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and filmmaker-prestige bets confirmed there is room for several lanes, from franchise continuations to original features that resonate abroad. The end result for 2026 is a schedule that presents tight coordination across players, with clear date clusters, a harmony of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a reinvigorated attention on release windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium rental and subscription services.

Marketers add the horror lane now serves as a plug-and-play option on the schedule. The genre can roll out on open real estate, generate a tight logline for teasers and reels, and outperform with demo groups that turn out on previews Thursday and continue through the sophomore frame if the release delivers. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 cadence underscores certainty in that engine. The slate kicks off with a busy January lineup, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while saving space for a October build that pushes into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The arrangement also illustrates the deeper integration of specialized imprints and streamers that can platform a title, grow buzz, and grow at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is legacy care across shared IP webs and veteran brands. The companies are not just rolling another next film. They are looking to package continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a tonal shift or a talent selection that anchors a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the simultaneously, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are favoring tactile craft, special makeup and grounded locations. That blend provides the 2026 slate a lively combination of home base and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent projects that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, marketing it as both a legacy handover and a back-to-basics character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a throwback-friendly approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive anchored in recognizable motifs, initial cast looks, and a tiered teaser plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will pursue mainstream recognition through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick shifts to whatever owns the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined strategies. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is tight, sorrow-tinged, and easily pitched: a grieving man activates an virtual partner that turns into a lethal partner. The date places it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the marketing arm likely to reprise creepy live activations and short-cut promos that threads devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a final title to become an PR pop closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. The filmmaker’s films are positioned as director events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a raw, physical-effects centered mix can feel deluxe on a controlled budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror surge that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio lines up two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has repositioned 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 reboots in what Sony is describing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and first-timers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign creative around narrative world, and monster aesthetics, elements that can lift PLF interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and linguistic texture, this time orbiting lycan myth. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that elevates both FOMO and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with global pickups and short theatrical plays when the data backs it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in library engagement, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival pickups, slotting horror entries closer to launch and coalescing around launches with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a staged of precision theatrical plays and swift platform pivots that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has signaled readiness to buy select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 runway with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a cinema-first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the December frame to widen. That positioning has served the company well for auteur horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception drives. Do not be surprised by 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 as a pair, using limited runs to fuel evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By proportion, 2026 is weighted toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is fatigue. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the assembly is familiar enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent comps help explain the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept streaming intact did not prevent a simultaneous release test from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror popped in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they pivot perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot consecutively, permits marketing to connect the chapters through character and theme and to continue assets in field without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror hint at a continued turn toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights grain and menace rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work and world-building, which favor convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel definitive. Look for trailers that accent razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is busy. 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the variety of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Late-season stretch leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited previews that trade in concept over detail.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s virtual companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the hierarchy tilts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s physical craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. 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 domestic haunting narrative that explores the unease of a child’s fragile read. Rating: to be announced. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural 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 spoof revival that skewers contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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: awaiting classification. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a another family tethered to past horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: continuing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three execution-level forces drive this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical 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 drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, precision scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, 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 comfort zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where value-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 my company 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. 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 year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundscape, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is IP strength where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the gasps sell the seats.