Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons ancient dread, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on top streamers

An unnerving spiritual shockfest from screenwriter / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an age-old nightmare when foreigners become pawns in a fiendish struggle. Premiering October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving depiction of resistance and age-old darkness that will redefine scare flicks this season. Visualized by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and shadowy fearfest follows five characters who snap to sealed in a isolated dwelling under the ominous rule of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a two-thousand-year-old scriptural evil. Arm yourself to be hooked by a narrative presentation that melds bodily fright with spiritual backstory, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a well-established pillar in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reversed when the beings no longer arise outside their bodies, but rather inside their minds. This represents the grimmest dimension of the victims. The result is a emotionally raw emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a unyielding face-off between light and darkness.


In a haunting wild, five figures find themselves sealed under the malicious force and grasp of a secretive apparition. As the group becomes paralyzed to withstand her control, exiled and attacked by entities indescribable, they are thrust to stand before their soulful dreads while the doomsday meter ruthlessly draws closer toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and connections implode, requiring each survivor to reflect on their character and the integrity of self-determination itself. The intensity amplify with every tick, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that combines otherworldly panic with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to draw upon core terror, an evil beyond time, operating within emotional fractures, and exposing a evil that challenges autonomy when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant evoking something far beyond human desperation. She is ignorant until the entity awakens, and that transition is deeply unsettling because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing subscribers anywhere can survive this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has been viewed over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, presenting the nightmare to viewers around the world.


Join this soul-jarring path of possession. Explore *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to witness these nightmarish insights about mankind.


For bonus footage, production news, and promotions from the creators, follow @YACFilm across online outlets and visit the official website.





Horror’s tipping point: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar integrates old-world possession, signature indie scares, and Franchise Rumbles

Moving from survival horror drawn from primordial scripture all the way to canon extensions as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 is shaping up as the most variegated combined with intentionally scheduled year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio majors lock in tentpoles with established lines, even as platform operators crowd the fall with emerging auteurs together with ancestral chills. In the indie lane, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the carry of 2024’s record festival wave. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Elevated fear reclaims ground

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp starts the year with a risk-forward move: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Directed by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. arriving mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

At summer’s close, the Warner Bros. banner delivers the closing chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: vintage toned fear, trauma driven plotting, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It bows in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Next comes Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative starring Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets 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.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in 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 an astute call. No puffed out backstory. No brand fatigue. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

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

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The upcoming Horror calendar year ahead: Sequels, universe starters, plus A hectic Calendar optimized for frights

Dek The brand-new genre calendar packs early with a January traffic jam, thereafter carries through the mid-year, and well into the winter holidays, combining name recognition, new concepts, and savvy release strategy. Distributors with platforms are leaning into cost discipline, cinema-first plans, and influencer-ready assets that pivot these releases into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This category has emerged as the consistent tool in studio lineups, a category that can surge when it catches and still hedge the drag when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to greenlighters that lean-budget entries can dominate the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and under-the-radar smashes. The carry fed into 2025, where reboots and festival-grade titles made clear there is room for diverse approaches, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that play globally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a slate that shows rare alignment across the industry, with clear date clusters, a pairing of known properties and new packages, and a tightened eye on release windows that fuel later windows on paid VOD and digital services.

Buyers contend the horror lane now behaves like a flex slot on the slate. The genre can debut on a wide range of weekends, supply a simple premise for previews and reels, and punch above weight with patrons that come out on Thursday previews and hold through the next pass if the offering delivers. Emerging from a production delay era, the 2026 pattern underscores trust in that engine. The slate kicks off with a crowded January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for counterweight, while leaving room for a October build that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The schedule also highlights the continuing integration of indie arms and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and expand at the strategic time.

A companion trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and classic IP. The companies are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are moving to present brand continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a logo package that suggests a reframed mood or a casting move that ties a incoming chapter to a first wave. At the same time, the writer-directors behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on practical craft, in-camera effects and concrete locations. That convergence yields the 2026 slate a strong blend of trust and novelty, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two front-of-slate bets that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a classic-mode character-first story. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance telegraphs a legacy-leaning angle without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected built on legacy iconography, character previews, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm landing toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will generate general-audience talk through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever rules horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct pushes. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tidy, melancholic, and easily pitched: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that shifts into a lethal partner. The date puts it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to renew viral uncanny stunts and snackable content that blurs attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a title reveal to become an PR pop closer to the debut look. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s pictures are set up as event films, with a mystery-first teaser and a second wave of trailers that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has consistently shown that a visceral, hands-on effects style can feel prestige on a disciplined budget. Expect a viscera-heavy summer horror charge that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio deploys two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, sustaining a bankable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting 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 longtime followers and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign pieces around narrative world, and monster design, elements that can drive deluxe auditorium demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in minute detail and period speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus Features has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a sequence that amplifies both premiere heat and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video blends licensed titles with world buys and limited runs in theaters when the data points to it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in archive usage, navigate here using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about originals and festival snaps, confirming horror entries toward the drop and framing as events launches with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a staged of selective theatrical runs and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has been willing to purchase select projects with accomplished filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 pipeline with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is no-nonsense: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a traditional cinema play for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the back half.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to move out. That positioning has worked well for craft-driven horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception warrants. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By count, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit cultural cachet. The watch-out, as ever, is diminishing returns. The workable fix is to brand each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-tinted vision from a rising filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and talent-first projects keep the lungs full. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the team and cast is assuring enough to spark pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent-year comps help explain the logic. In 2023, a theater-first model that honored streaming windows did not preclude a day-and-date experiment from performing when the brand was sticky. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel new when they angle differently and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, enables marketing to bridge entries through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without hiatuses.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate forecast a continued preference for in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that spotlights creep and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in trade spotlights and craft features before rolling out a teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at practical nastiness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta reframe that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature and environment design, which are ideal for convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that elevate razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid heftier brand moves. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the palette of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Pre-summer months load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges 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 drops blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

End of summer through fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a early fall window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a slow-reveal plan and limited information drops that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the 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 card usage.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s artificial companion turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. 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 difficult boss fight to survive on a rugged island as the control dynamic upends and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to dread, shaped by Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting tale that toys with the dread of a child’s shaky point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-grade and headline-actor led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that lampoons contemporary horror memes and true-crime crazes. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 erupts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan bound to returning horrors. Rating: pending. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-driven horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: underway. 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 time-true diction and elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter timelines. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming placements. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on bite-size scare clips from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Calendar math also matters. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, providing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The search for sleepers 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sound field, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the scares sell the seats.