Antediluvian Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled chiller, launching October 2025 on global platforms

A hair-raising ghostly nightmare movie from literary architect / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an long-buried terror when passersby become victims in a malevolent ritual. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of living through and prehistoric entity that will reshape fear-driven cinema this scare season. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and emotionally thick screenplay follows five lost souls who awaken confined in a cut-off dwelling under the unfriendly power of Kyra, a cursed figure dominated by a timeless biblical force. Prepare to be gripped by a narrative display that unites visceral dread with mystical narratives, coming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a well-established foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reimagined when the monsters no longer come from an outside force, but rather within themselves. This depicts the malevolent version of the victims. The result is a relentless cognitive warzone where the plotline becomes a relentless face-off between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five youths find themselves contained under the unholy presence and control of a unknown character. As the group becomes unable to withstand her manipulation, detached and followed by unknowns unimaginable, they are required to wrestle with their soulful dreads while the clock without pity strikes toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust amplifies and relationships dissolve, compelling each member to scrutinize their identity and the notion of decision-making itself. The danger rise with every fleeting time, delivering a terror ride that merges otherworldly suspense with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to dig into core terror, an spirit before modern man, channeling itself through emotional vulnerability, and questioning a presence that peels away humanity when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra demanded embodying something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that pivot is eerie because it is so visceral.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that subscribers anywhere can engage with this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original clip, which has gathered over six-figure audience.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, presenting the nightmare to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this unforgettable descent into hell. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these spiritual awakenings about the soul.


For featurettes, making-of footage, and announcements from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit the official digital haunt.





Modern horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. Slate weaves Mythic Possession, microbudget gut-punches, and brand-name tremors

Beginning with endurance-driven terror drawn from old testament echoes to returning series alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the richest together with precision-timed year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. the big studios lock in tentpoles with known properties, at the same time subscription platforms load up the fall with fresh voices paired with legend-coded dread. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Premium dread reemerges

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

Universal’s pipeline sets the tone with an audacious swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a crisp modern milieu. Steered by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. set for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer wanes, Warner’s schedule drops the final chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re teams, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: period tinged dread, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It bows in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: 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 horror anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a room scale body horror descent pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated mythology. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, from Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Key Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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 must claw for air. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The oncoming genre calendar year ahead: installments, universe starters, in tandem with A loaded Calendar tailored for goosebumps

Dek The fresh terror cycle stacks early with a January logjam, and then spreads through peak season, and far into the holidays, balancing brand heft, inventive spins, and tactical counterplay. The major players are committing to right-sized spends, theatrical leads, and viral-minded pushes that frame genre titles into cross-demo moments.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror has grown into the steady option in release strategies, a category that can break out when it connects and still mitigate the downside when it underperforms. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that responsibly budgeted shockers can steer the discourse, 2024 held pace with festival-darling auteurs and quiet over-performers. The energy rolled into the 2025 frame, where revivals and prestige plays proved there is space for multiple flavors, from continued chapters to standalone ideas that play globally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a lineup that reads highly synchronized across studios, with planned clusters, a harmony of familiar brands and untested plays, and a revived eye on big-screen windows that feed downstream value on premium rental and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the category now behaves like a schedule utility on the calendar. The genre can open on virtually any date, supply a sharp concept for trailers and reels, and punch above weight with moviegoers that show up on advance nights and stick through the next pass if the release hits. Coming out of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 cadence demonstrates assurance in that dynamic. The calendar starts with a thick January stretch, then plants flags in spring and early summer for contrast, while saving space for a September to October window that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into early November. The calendar also features the stronger partnership of indie arms and home platforms that can platform a title, create conversation, and move wide at the inflection point.

Another broad trend is IP stewardship across shared universes and legacy IP. The companies are not just rolling another next film. They are working to present lore continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that suggests a re-angled tone or a ensemble decision that binds a latest entry to a vintage era. At the same time, the creative teams behind the high-profile originals are embracing in-camera technique, makeup and prosthetics and specific settings. That interplay affords the 2026 slate a smart balance of known notes and invention, which is what works overseas.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount defines the early cadence with two headline pushes that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, signaling it as both a handoff and a rootsy character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a nostalgia-forward framework without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. A campaign is expected built on legacy iconography, initial cast looks, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a counterweight in summer, this one will chase general-audience talk through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three specific releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and logline-clear: a grieving man activates an algorithmic mate that mutates into a lethal partner. The date positions it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and short reels that interweaves attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots 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 official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a public title to become an teaser payoff closer to the early tease. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. The filmmaker’s films are set up as event films, with a minimalist tease and a follow-up trailer set that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, in-camera leaning method can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror surge that spotlights international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio sets two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, preserving a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is billing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both fans and casuals. The fall slot affords Sony time to build marketing units around mythos, and practical creature work, elements that can lift IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and period speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. The distributor has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is warm.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on known playbooks. The studio’s horror films land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that maximizes both launch urgency and sign-up momentum in the tail. Prime Video blends library titles with worldwide buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in archive usage, using prominent placements, seasonal hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps optionality about original films and festival snaps, timing horror entries closer to launch and staging as events releases with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a two-step of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has been willing to invest in select projects with prestige directors or A-list packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation swells.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 corridor with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation Source of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is tight: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined 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 announced a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the October weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then pressing the December frame to move out. That positioning has worked well for arthouse horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many 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 go wider if reception drives. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By volume, 2026 leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit brand equity. The concern, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to sell each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is promising a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-accented approach from a buzzed-about director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the deal build is steady enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the model. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept streaming intact did not preclude a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate forecast a continued tilt toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead press and department features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature design and production design, which lend themselves to expo activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that land in big rooms.

The schedule at a glance

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 foggy reset amid heftier brand moves. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the range of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The 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 clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited plot reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December click site 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card spend.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s artificial companion escalates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 try to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to terror, shaped by Cronin’s material craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting chiller that plays with the chill of a child’s uncertain read. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-grade and star-fronted spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that needles current genre trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family anchored to returning horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A new start designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

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

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and elemental menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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

Why the 2026 timing works

Three practical forces frame this lineup. First, production that paused or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming releases. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, metered scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will compete across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, 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 compound over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, audio design, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand power where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.