Primeval Evil Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising thriller, bowing October 2025 across top digital platforms

One eerie supernatural shockfest from screenwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an timeless evil when outsiders become pawns in a malevolent contest. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful story of staying alive and archaic horror that will resculpt the fear genre this Halloween season. Guided by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and emotionally thick suspense flick follows five individuals who find themselves ensnared in a off-grid cottage under the malignant sway of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a legendary biblical force. Be prepared to be hooked by a theatrical spectacle that fuses 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.


Diabolic occupation has been a time-honored narrative in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is radically shifted when the fiends no longer arise externally, but rather through their own souls. This suggests the haunting version of every character. The result is a intense spiritual tug-of-war where the emotions becomes a unforgiving clash between purity and corruption.


In a abandoned no-man's-land, five adults find themselves caught under the dark rule and inhabitation of a obscure character. As the ensemble becomes powerless to evade her curse, left alone and hunted by creatures impossible to understand, they are pushed to encounter their emotional phantoms while the countdown mercilessly runs out toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust swells and friendships disintegrate, compelling each survivor to examine their values and the philosophy of independent thought itself. The intensity climb with every passing moment, delivering a paranormal ride that combines otherworldly suspense with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to awaken deep fear, an evil that existed before mankind, manifesting in soul-level flaws, and highlighting a spirit that erodes the self when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra involved tapping into something darker than pain. She is in denial until the spirit seizes her, and that turn is terrifying because it is so close.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for streaming beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—delivering fans around the globe can be part of this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has earned over a viral response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, offering the tale to a worldwide audience.


Don’t miss this gripping descent into darkness. Confront *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to acknowledge these dark realities about the soul.


For director insights, set experiences, and reveals via the production team, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror pivotal crossroads: 2025 for genre fans domestic schedule Mixes primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, paired with returning-series thunder

Running from grit-forward survival fare rooted in old testament echoes through to canon extensions set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like the most stratified combined with strategic year in the past ten years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. top-tier distributors set cornerstones with established lines, simultaneously streaming platforms flood the fall with fresh voices as well as archetypal fear. Meanwhile, the artisan tier is buoyed by the afterglow from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The fall stretch is the proving field, and now, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are intentional, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: The Return of Prestige Fear

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal camp starts the year with a statement play: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. set for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer wanes, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, courting teens and the thirty something base. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: No Budget, No Problem

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a sealed box body horror arc with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No continuity burden. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are more runway than museum.

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 folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

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

Series Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trend Lines

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror reemerges
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

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

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The next fright season: returning titles, original films, alongside A stacked Calendar engineered for frights

Dek: The current terror cycle stacks in short order with a January crush, following that rolls through the summer months, and running into the winter holidays, blending marquee clout, novel approaches, and savvy release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are embracing responsible budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-driven marketing that shape these films into all-audience topics.

How the genre looks for 2026

This category has established itself as the most reliable tool in release strategies, a category that can accelerate when it resonates and still protect the downside when it falls short. After 2023 reminded executives that low-to-mid budget genre plays can own the zeitgeist, the following year carried the beat with buzzy auteur projects and sleeper breakouts. The run moved into 2025, where reawakened brands and prestige plays underscored there is demand for several lanes, from legacy continuations to original features that perform internationally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a programming that looks unusually coordinated across the field, with purposeful groupings, a combination of marquee IP and untested plays, and a reinvigorated attention on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium video on demand and OTT platforms.

Planners observe the space now functions as a plug-and-play option on the grid. Horror can premiere on most weekends, offer a sharp concept for previews and reels, and exceed norms with fans that lean in on Thursday previews and maintain momentum through the subsequent weekend if the offering connects. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 plan exhibits belief in that model. The slate commences with a thick January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for counterweight, while reserving space for a fall cadence that carries into the Halloween corridor and into post-Halloween. The program also reflects the greater integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can stage a platform run, fuel WOM, and expand at the precise moment.

A notable top-line trend is brand management across unified worlds and established properties. Big banners are not just rolling another return. They are setting up ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a new vibe or a star attachment that bridges a next film to a early run. At the in tandem, the helmers behind the high-profile originals are leaning into on-set craft, real effects and site-specific worlds. That pairing produces 2026 a smart balance of known notes and newness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two front-of-slate releases that live at opposite ends of the check my blog tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a succession moment and a heritage-centered character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the artistic posture telegraphs a nostalgia-forward campaign without going over the last two entries’ sisters thread. Plan for a rollout centered on recognizable motifs, intro reveals, and a two-beat trailer plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a summer contrast play, this one will pursue mainstream recognition through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is clean, sorrow-tinged, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an AI companion that grows into a fatal companion. The date lines it up at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the studio’s marketing likely to echo uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that threads love and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele projects are marketed as director events, with a minimalist tease and a next wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The prime October weekend allows Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has established that a blood-soaked, practical-first execution can feel high-value on a disciplined budget. Expect a splatter summer horror blast that spotlights international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio rolls out two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, extending a steady supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is calling a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both players and general audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build promo materials around setting detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can boost deluxe auditorium demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in historical precision and historical speech, this time circling werewolf lore. The distributor has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a cadence that enhances both debut momentum and sign-up spikes in the later phase. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with worldwide buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in back-catalog play, using featured rows, spooky hubs, and curated strips to sustain interest on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about in-house releases and festival wins, scheduling horror entries with shorter lead times and positioning as event drops rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a selective basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with prestige directors or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 slate 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 promise is direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the September weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to scale. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-first horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception prompts. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using boutique theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By volume, 2026 skews toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use fan equity. The trade-off, as ever, is diminishing returns. The pragmatic answer is to package each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-accented approach from a rising filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the team and cast is familiar enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns announce the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that maintained windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from working when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror exceeded expectations in large-format rooms. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to connect the chapters through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without long breaks.

Technique and craft currents

The creative meetings behind this year’s genre suggest a continued lean toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft coverage before rolling out a tease that leans on mood over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at practical nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and drives shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta inflection that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature design and production design, which favor booth activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid marquee brands. The month finishes 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 legit, but the variety of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Q1 into Q2 prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reframes 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 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a transitional slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that lean on concept not plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card redemption.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s machine mate turns into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 push to survive on a lonely island as the hierarchy upends and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting tale that teases the horror of a child’s fragile interpretations. Rating: forthcoming. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

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 parody return that teases in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime buzz. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites breaks out, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing get redirected here in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further opens again, with a another family snared by old terrors. Rating: pending. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for pure survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

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

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and elemental menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 lands now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or reshuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

The slot calculus is real. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will jostle across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 dark-horse hunt 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 dark-horse hit 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026 Is Well Positioned

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, craft precise trailers, protect the mystery, and let the fear sell the seats.