Antediluvian Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, premiering October 2025 across global platforms

An blood-curdling occult shockfest from cinematographer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an long-buried evil when outsiders become tokens in a cursed ceremony. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of living through and timeless dread that will remodel scare flicks this fall. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and immersive screenplay follows five lost souls who emerge sealed in a remote cabin under the malignant command of Kyra, a cursed figure dominated by a legendary Old Testament spirit. Brace yourself to be shaken by a big screen event that merges visceral dread with arcane tradition, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a historical pillar in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is reversed when the monsters no longer develop externally, but rather inside them. This suggests the most terrifying corner of the cast. The result is a gripping moral showdown where the events becomes a brutal confrontation between heaven and hell.


In a forsaken outland, five youths find themselves isolated under the malicious control and haunting of a enigmatic female presence. As the team becomes incapacitated to withstand her grasp, severed and tormented by forces inconceivable, they are cornered to reckon with their inner demons while the clock unforgivingly ticks onward toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear builds and connections erode, coercing each participant to reconsider their values and the idea of freedom of choice itself. The cost amplify with every short lapse, delivering a frightening tale that connects occult fear with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to channel primal fear, an malevolence before modern man, embedding itself in fragile psyche, and dealing with a force that erodes the self when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is unaware until the haunting manifests, and that transformation is haunting because it is so internal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for on-demand beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving audiences in all regions can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its release of trailer #1, which has attracted over a viral response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, presenting the nightmare to international horror buffs.


Do not miss this soul-jarring exploration of dread. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to experience these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For teasers, extra content, and social posts from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie portal.





The horror genre’s inflection point: the year 2025 American release plan interlaces biblical-possession ideas, underground frights, and returning-series thunder

Running from survivor-centric dread inspired by ancient scripture and onward to IP renewals set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted together with precision-timed year in recent memory.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. major banners hold down the year with franchise anchors, at the same time digital services prime the fall with unboxed visions as well as scriptural shivers. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is drafting behind the tailwinds from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, thus 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The majors are assertive. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal camp sets the tone with a marquee bet: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. set for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Directed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with 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. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule delivers the closing chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: retro dread, trauma explicitly handled, and eerie supernatural logic. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, stretches the animatronic parade, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Firsts: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, an intimate body horror unraveling led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend with Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is canny scheduling. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Heritage Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Emerging Currents

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forecast: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The approaching genre Year Ahead: entries, universe starters, together with A brimming Calendar designed for chills

Dek The current horror cycle crams immediately with a January crush, and then extends through the mid-year, and carrying into the December corridor, blending name recognition, untold stories, and data-minded counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are betting on cost discipline, box-office-first windows, and influencer-ready assets that convert genre releases into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has turned into the predictable move in studio slates, a genre that can grow when it clicks and still buffer the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 reminded top brass that cost-conscious fright engines can own mainstream conversation, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam pushed into 2025, where reboots and prestige plays signaled there is space for varied styles, from franchise continuations to non-IP projects that translate worldwide. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across players, with clear date clusters, a mix of marquee IP and original hooks, and a revived attention on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium home window and OTT platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now behaves like a versatile piece on the grid. The genre can kick off on many corridors, supply a tight logline for trailers and vertical videos, and overperform with viewers that respond on opening previews and keep coming through the follow-up frame if the movie connects. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup reflects trust in that model. The year commences with a crowded January run, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a fall corridor that carries into holiday-adjacent weekends and past the holiday. The arrangement also illustrates the ongoing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can launch in limited release, grow buzz, and widen at the sweet spot.

A notable top-line trend is series management across ongoing universes and veteran brands. The players are not just turning out another return. They are looking to package lineage with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that signals a refreshed voice or a casting choice that anchors a new installment to a classic era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, practical effects and place-driven backdrops. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a lively combination of comfort and shock, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two big-ticket bets that this page straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the core, marketing it as both a succession moment and a origin-leaning character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach hints at a nostalgia-forward framework without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push rooted in classic imagery, character previews, and a rollout cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that turns into a deadly partner. The date locates it at the front of a thick month, with the studio’s marketing likely to iterate on creepy live activations and bite-size content that interlaces affection and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered 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 leaves room for a proper title to become an marketing beat closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are treated as signature events, with a concept-forward tease and a second trailer wave that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a gritty, practical-effects forward approach can feel high-value on a tight budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror blast that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio mounts two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, sustaining a evergreen supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both fans and first-timers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around canon, and creature work, elements that can lift premium booking interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins 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 defined by rigorous craft and archaic language, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal titles shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a cadence that boosts both initial urgency and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video combines acquired titles with global originals and targeted theatrical runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, October hubs, and featured rows to prolong the run on the annual genre haul. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix originals and festival additions, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a tiered of limited theatrical footprints and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 runway with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clear: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical rollout for the title, an good sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the autumn stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, managing the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using select theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By count, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to package each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is floating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is steady enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps illuminate the plan. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not hamper a dual release from delivering when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror surged in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on 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 shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to tie installments through character web and themes and to sustain campaign assets without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind the 2026 slate hint at a continued preference for hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and technical spotlights before rolling out a teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta-horror reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature execution and sets, which favor con floor moments and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that accent disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is jammed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month winds down 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 meaningful, but the range of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Winter into spring set up the summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a slow-reveal plan and limited advance reveals that elevate my company concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card spend.

Film-by-film briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s digital partner shifts into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 hard-edged boss claw to survive on a far-flung island as the pecking order reverses and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s physical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting piece that twists the horror of a child’s wobbly senses. Rating: TBA. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven spectral suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that needles modern genre fads and true crime preoccupations. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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: production in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further widens again, with a different family tethered to older hauntings. Rating: undetermined. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on time-true diction and ancient menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026, why now

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will cluster across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 surprise-hit pursuit 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is recognizable IP where it plays, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the frights sell the seats.