Antediluvian Dread Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across top digital platforms

One terrifying spectral thriller from storyteller / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primeval terror when strangers become victims in a hellish trial. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense account of struggle and ancient evil that will redefine the fear genre this ghoul season. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric screenplay follows five young adults who are stirred ensnared in a cut-off wooden structure under the ominous rule of Kyra, a possessed female possessed by a timeless sacred-era entity. Prepare to be ensnared by a screen-based outing that melds gut-punch terror with ancient myths, landing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a classic tradition in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is turned on its head when the dark entities no longer manifest from external sources, but rather internally. This suggests the most sinister corner of each of them. The result is a gripping identity crisis where the intensity becomes a merciless conflict between purity and corruption.


In a barren woodland, five young people find themselves sealed under the evil rule and possession of a uncanny female figure. As the ensemble becomes incapable to withstand her influence, isolated and attacked by unknowns mind-shattering, they are obligated to stand before their worst nightmares while the clock ruthlessly edges forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease amplifies and partnerships disintegrate, demanding each figure to rethink their true nature and the principle of volition itself. The hazard surge with every beat, delivering a nightmarish journey that harmonizes otherworldly suspense with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to dive into raw dread, an evil beyond recorded history, emerging via soul-level flaws, and wrestling with a presence that redefines identity when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant evoking something outside normal anguish. She is unseeing until the evil takes hold, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so unshielded.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for public screening beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—delivering horror lovers from coast to coast can survive this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first trailer, which has racked up over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, exporting the fear to a worldwide audience.


Don’t miss this cinematic fall into madness. Experience *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to acknowledge these evil-rooted truths about human nature.


For bonus footage, production insights, and press updates from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s sea change: 2025 domestic schedule weaves primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, together with series shake-ups

Running from life-or-death fear saturated with primordial scripture and stretching into IP renewals in concert with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the most complex along with carefully orchestrated year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios lay down anchors with established lines, even as premium streamers flood the fall with first-wave breakthroughs together with legend-coded dread. On the festival side, independent banners is buoyed by the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are surgical, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s pipeline starts the year with a statement play: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule unveils the final movement from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Despite a known recipe, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma explicitly handled, plus otherworld rules that chill. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Slim budgets, major punch

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a close quarters body horror study pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is destined for a fall landing.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by 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 the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No legacy baggage. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

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

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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.

Dials to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: Fall stack and winter swing card

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming chiller release year: next chapters, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The incoming horror season lines up from day one with a January traffic jam, from there unfolds through peak season, and well into the winter holidays, fusing IP strength, untold stories, and smart offsets. Studio marketers and platforms are prioritizing smart costs, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that convert genre releases into all-audience topics.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror sector has shown itself to be the dependable release in programming grids, a lane that can lift when it breaks through and still cushion the drawdown when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for strategy teams that lean-budget genre plays can steer mainstream conversation, the following year kept energy high with festival-darling auteurs and word-of-mouth wins. The upswing translated to the 2025 frame, where revived properties and premium-leaning entries made clear there is an opening for different modes, from sequel tracks to original one-offs that carry overseas. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a roster that seems notably aligned across studios, with clear date clusters, a mix of established brands and novel angles, and a revived stance on cinema windows that fuel later windows on paid VOD and platforms.

Executives say the category now performs as a versatile piece on the calendar. Horror can open on numerous frames, supply a clear pitch for previews and TikTok spots, and outstrip with patrons that line up on advance nights and sustain through the next weekend if the movie pays off. In the wake of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 mapping demonstrates assurance in that equation. The year commences with a heavy January schedule, then exploits spring through early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that flows toward Halloween and into post-Halloween. The program also features the expanded integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and roll out at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and long-running brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are looking to package brand continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title design that signals a new vibe or a lead change that connects a latest entry to a heyday. At the meanwhile, the creative teams behind the most watched originals are returning to physical effects work, practical effects and site-specific worlds. That blend affords the 2026 slate a robust balance of home base and surprise, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the spine, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a classic-mode relationship-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a heritage-honoring strategy without retreading the last two entries’ sibling arc. A campaign is expected stacked with heritage visuals, early character teases, and a promo sequence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will seek large awareness through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick turns to whatever rules the social talk that spring.

Universal has three unique bets. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is simple, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an algorithmic mate that mutates into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit viral uncanny stunts and short-form creative that hybridizes romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a final title to become an PR pop closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele titles are marketed as creative events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later creative that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel high-value on a lean spend. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror charge that pushes navigate to this website global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is billing as a clean-slate approach 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 charge to serve both fans and new audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can lift IMAX and PLF uptake and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and linguistic texture, this time circling werewolf lore. The label has already set the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is robust.

Where the platforms fit in

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s slate move to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a tiered path that maximizes both premiere heat and sub growth in the late-window. Prime Video interleaves outside acquisitions with cross-border buys and select theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library engagement, using featured rows, genre hubs, and handpicked rows to sustain interest on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps flexible about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, slotting horror entries near their drops and making event-like rollouts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a situational basis. The platform has been willing to purchase select projects with acclaimed directors or star-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly activity when the genre conversation builds.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 runway with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern sound and cinematography. 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 big-screen first plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the back half.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then working the year-end corridor to move out. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-first horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception drives. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on cultural cachet. The challenge, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to position each entry as a new angle. Paramount is bringing forward character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a continental coloration from a ascendant talent. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the bundle is comforting enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the template. In 2023, a theater-first model that observed windows did not block a same-day experiment from paying off when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective 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 back-to-back plan, with chapters shot consecutively, permits marketing to connect the chapters through cast and motif and to maintain a flow of assets without extended gaps.

How the films are being made

The craft conversations behind this year’s genre forecast a continued lean toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that emphasizes tone and tension rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and technical spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and produces shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta reframe that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature and environment design, which align with fan-con activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel must-have. Look for trailers that center hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that benefit on big speakers.

Annual flow

January is loaded. 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 somber counterpoint amid macro-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tonal variety gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a peekaboo tease plan and limited advance reveals that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s AI companion becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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 meet a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: tone-first 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 prickly boss push to survive on a cut-off island as the power dynamic tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s tactile craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting setup that channels the fear through a preteen’s unsteady personal vantage. Rating: TBD. Production: post-ready. Positioning: major-studio and star-led 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 crazes. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. 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 spreads, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a another family lashed to old terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBD. Production: underway. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, precision scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing 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 somber, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, acoustics, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand heft where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.