Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases mythic darkness, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, landing Oct 2025 on global platforms

An blood-curdling mystic suspense film from cinematographer / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primordial nightmare when foreigners become tools in a demonic contest. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of living through and timeless dread that will remodel genre cinema this ghoul season. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and cinematic story follows five figures who emerge locked in a cut-off house under the ominous grip of Kyra, a haunted figure consumed by a legendary biblical demon. Brace yourself to be immersed by a immersive outing that merges primitive horror with ancestral stories, dropping on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a legendary tradition in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is flipped when the entities no longer manifest outside their bodies, but rather deep within. This echoes the most primal facet of the victims. The result is a bone-chilling identity crisis where the plotline becomes a brutal clash between light and darkness.


In a unforgiving no-man's-land, five friends find themselves imprisoned under the ghastly control and infestation of a enigmatic person. As the companions becomes incapable to break her will, left alone and preyed upon by evils indescribable, they are driven to stand before their raw vulnerabilities while the time unceasingly strikes toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust grows and friendships collapse, urging each member to contemplate their true nature and the foundation of decision-making itself. The risk amplify with every breath, delivering a cinematic nightmare that merges ghostly evil with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dig into basic terror, an threat beyond recorded history, working through inner turmoil, and challenging a evil that strips down our being when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant channeling something darker than pain. She is clueless until the haunting manifests, and that transition is deeply unsettling because it is so visceral.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for public screening beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that viewers around the globe can dive into this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has garnered over notable views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, bringing the film to horror fans worldwide.


Avoid skipping this bone-rattling voyage through terror. Face *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to confront these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For exclusive trailers, making-of footage, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YACFilm across your socials and visit the movie portal.





American horror’s major pivot: 2025 for genre fans U.S. rollouts blends ancient-possession motifs, independent shockers, in parallel with brand-name tremors

Ranging from survivor-centric dread steeped in ancient scripture as well as installment follow-ups plus focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become horror’s most layered and precision-timed year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio powerhouses bookend the months using marquee IP, while OTT services stack the fall with debut heat set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, the independent cohort is drafting behind the uplift of 2024’s record festival wave. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, notably this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, which means 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige fear returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s schedule sets the tone with an audacious swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Booked into mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. From director Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. Pictures unveils the final movement from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 follows. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The new chapter enriches the lore, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It drops in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing pairing 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.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror duet with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also rising is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative led by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped 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 canny scheduling. No bloated canon. No sequel clutter. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, with Francis Lawrence directing, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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 to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror comes roaring back
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Outlook: Autumn density and winter pivot

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

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 aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new spook year to come: next chapters, standalone ideas, alongside A hectic Calendar geared toward frights

Dek The arriving horror slate clusters up front with a January glut, then unfolds through the summer months, and carrying into the December corridor, mixing marquee clout, new concepts, and well-timed calendar placement. Studios with streamers are doubling down on smart costs, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that pivot genre titles into cross-demo moments.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has turned into the steady swing in studio slates, a genre that can grow when it performs and still cushion the exposure when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reassured top brass that cost-conscious genre plays can galvanize social chatter, 2024 extended the rally with signature-voice projects and stealth successes. The run extended into 2025, where revivals and awards-minded projects proved there is a market for a spectrum, from returning installments to original features that perform internationally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a lineup that appears tightly organized across the field, with strategic blocks, a pairing of legacy names and fresh ideas, and a sharpened emphasis on exhibition windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now behaves like a plug-and-play option on the programming map. The genre can premiere on nearly any frame, supply a easy sell for promo reels and UGC-friendly snippets, and outperform with fans that respond on early shows and stick through the next pass if the offering pays off. On the heels of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 mapping signals conviction in that equation. The year rolls out with a weighty January lineup, then turns to spring and early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a September to October window that stretches into All Hallows period and afterwards. The gridline also illustrates the tightening integration of specialized imprints and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and scale up at the inflection point.

A notable top-line trend is IP stewardship across linked properties and established properties. Distribution groups are not just mounting another return. They are setting up continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a logo package that signals a re-angled tone or a cast configuration that binds a upcoming film to a first wave. At the in tandem, the directors behind the most watched originals are celebrating tactile craft, practical effects and specific settings. That interplay produces 2026 a strong blend of familiarity and surprise, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount leads early with two high-profile moves that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the lead, setting it up as both a succession moment and a origin-leaning character piece. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture announces a fan-service aware strategy without replaying the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Look for a marketing run anchored in franchise iconography, intro reveals, and a trailer cadence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt broad awareness through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format permitting quick updates to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three separate projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, somber, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an synthetic partner that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date places it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to bring back odd public stunts and brief clips that melds longing and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His projects are set up as creative events, with a hinting teaser and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The pre-Halloween slot opens a lane to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a raw, makeup-driven aesthetic can feel elevated on a tight budget. Expect a blood-and-grime summer horror hit that spotlights foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio rolls out two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, sustaining a steady supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is selling as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both longtime followers and newcomers. The fall slot allows Sony to build promo materials around setting detail, and creature design, elements that can amplify IMAX and PLF uptake and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in minute detail and textual fidelity, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s releases move to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a pacing that maximizes both first-week urgency and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video will mix third-party pickups with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library curation, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix keeps flexible about in-house releases and festival buys, timing horror entries tight to release and elevating as drops debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a one-two of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a selective basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to invest in select projects with name filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for platform stickiness when the genre conversation swells.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 corridor 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 setup is uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, reimagined for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then using the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has shown results for elevated genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception encourages. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 leans toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage cultural cachet. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand wear. The standing approach is to present each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is underscoring character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French sensibility from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is assuring enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Recent-year comps contextualize the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept streaming intact did not block a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was sticky. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror hit big in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga proved again 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 advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, lets marketing to cross-link entries through character arcs and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate point to a continued lean toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and technical spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and generates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta recalibration that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster aesthetics and world-building, which match well with convention floor stunts and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel primary. Look for trailers that accent hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Annual flow

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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month wraps 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 credible, but the menu of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Late Q1 and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited plot reveals that elevate concept over story.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads 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 grieving man’s machine mate escalates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. 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 demanding boss scramble to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance shifts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, based on great post to read Cronin’s material craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting piece that teases the dread of a child’s tricky read. Rating: to be announced. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-crafted and toplined spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A comic send-up that skewers present-day genre chatter and true crime fascinations. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 ignites, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family tethered to old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on true survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. 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: pending. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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: pending. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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: date in flux, fall expected.

Why this year, why now

Three pragmatic forces organize this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and tighter schedules. 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, curated scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can control a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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

The stealth-hit search 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a have a peek at these guys Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, audio design, and cinematography 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, Lined Up To Scare

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.