Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed reignites age-old dread, a pulse pounding shocker, streaming Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

This terrifying ghostly suspense story from storyteller / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an archaic force when unrelated individuals become instruments in a devilish conflict. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing journey of endurance and mythic evil that will revamp horror this October. Visualized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and tone-heavy thriller follows five teens who wake up confined in a wooded house under the malevolent dominion of Kyra, a central character dominated by a two-thousand-year-old holy text monster. Arm yourself to be shaken by a visual display that melds instinctive fear with timeless legends, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a legendary trope in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is challenged when the dark entities no longer form from external sources, but rather inside them. This embodies the deepest shade of the players. The result is a psychologically brutal cognitive warzone where the narrative becomes a perpetual fight between purity and corruption.


In a remote landscape, five characters find themselves stuck under the ghastly control and domination of a shadowy apparition. As the survivors becomes incapable to combat her curse, abandoned and tracked by spirits inconceivable, they are thrust to acknowledge their emotional phantoms while the time relentlessly pushes forward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion builds and ties implode, prompting each survivor to challenge their identity and the concept of personal agency itself. The consequences escalate with every instant, delivering a frightening tale that connects paranormal dread with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to extract ancestral fear, an force from ancient eras, working through emotional fractures, and confronting a darkness that erodes the self when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant channeling something past sanity. She is in denial until the haunting manifests, and that pivot is deeply unsettling because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving horror lovers from coast to coast can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has earned over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Experience this mind-warping journey into fear. Experience *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to experience these evil-rooted truths about the mind.


For featurettes, production insights, and insider scoops from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across media channels and visit the official movie site.





Today’s horror Turning Point: the 2025 season domestic schedule braids together archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, plus IP aftershocks

Across survival horror infused with ancient scripture as well as series comebacks alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated combined with tactically planned year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. Major studios stabilize the year with familiar IP, simultaneously streaming platforms stack the fall with new voices plus ancient terrors. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is catching the uplift from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween holding the peak, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, thus 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s pipeline opens the year with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. timed for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. From director Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s pipeline releases the last chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: throwback unease, trauma as text, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The ante is higher this round, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, buttoning the final window.

SVOD Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. From writer director 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is canny scheduling. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to 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. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Franchise Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, steered by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Key Trends

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror ascends again
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theaters are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Near Term Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 genre Year Ahead: returning titles, standalone ideas, plus A brimming Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek The incoming genre slate crowds at the outset with a January traffic jam, then spreads through peak season, and running into the year-end corridor, weaving brand equity, novel approaches, and tactical counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that turn these films into cross-demo moments.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the consistent tool in studio slates, a genre that can surge when it catches and still hedge the drawdown when it doesn’t. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that mid-range horror vehicles can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 kept energy high with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The energy flowed into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and elevated films signaled there is appetite for many shades, from series extensions to original features that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a run that appears tightly organized across players, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of brand names and fresh ideas, and a revived focus on exclusive windows that fuel later windows on premium digital rental and home platforms.

Buyers contend the genre now performs as a wildcard on the distribution slate. The genre can premiere on many corridors, supply a clean hook for ad units and reels, and over-index with fans that arrive on first-look nights and sustain through the sophomore frame if the release fires. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores assurance in that logic. The year opens with a front-loaded January corridor, then uses spring and early summer for balance, while reserving space for a fall corridor that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and into the next week. The layout also shows the greater integration of indie distributors and platforms that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and expand at the optimal moment.

A further high-level trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and storied titles. Big banners are not just pushing another chapter. They are moving to present ongoing narrative with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that flags a reframed mood or a ensemble decision that reconnects a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the marquee originals are prioritizing on-set craft, physical gags and vivid settings. That combination delivers 2026 a solid mix of trust and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight moves that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character-centered film. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a classic-referencing angle without retreading the last two entries’ sibling arc. Plan for a rollout Check This Out driven by heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a tiered teaser plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will generate wide appeal through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three specific plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is straightforward, somber, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man activates an AI companion that turns into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with the studio’s marketing likely to replay off-kilter promo beats and short reels that melds companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books 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 release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a name unveil to become an fan moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His entries are set up as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a later creative that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot creates space for Universal to take 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, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, physical-effects centered approach can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror surge that leans hard into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio books two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, continuing a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is positioning as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around lore, and creature work, elements that can boost large-format demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a tiered path that expands both opening-weekend urgency and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video stitches together catalogue additions with global pickups and targeted theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in archive usage, using curated hubs, October hubs, and staff picks to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival pickups, securing horror entries tight to release and elevating as drops drops with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to acquire select projects with award winners or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 arc with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, refined for modern audio and picture. 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 indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the September weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the year-end corridor to increase reach. That positioning has worked well for director-led genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on marquee value. The question, as ever, is viewer burnout. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the configuration is grounded enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns announce the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that held distribution windows did not foreclose a day-and-date experiment from delivering when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror punched above its weight in premium screens. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward 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 in tandem, builds a path for marketing to connect the chapters through relationships and themes and to leave creative active without long gaps.

How the films are being made

The filmmaking conversations behind the year’s horror telegraph a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that leans on tone and tension rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for red-band excess, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and generates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta inflection that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which lend themselves to convention activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that highlight pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is packed. 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 marquee brands. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the range of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Early-year through spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a minimalist tease strategy and limited advance reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s virtual companion evolves into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss work to survive on a cut-off island as the control balance flips and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: A-list 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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting premise that twists the terror of a child’s wobbly interpretations. Rating: forthcoming. Production: completed. 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 spoof revival that skewers hot-button genre motifs and true crime fixations. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. 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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a fresh family snared by ancient dread. Rating: undetermined. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A reboot designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-core horror over action fireworks. Rating: pending. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 era-faithful speech and primal menace. Rating: TBD. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three grounded forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or rearranged in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on clippable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will compete across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected 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. 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.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient placements, 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 visual texture, soundscape, 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand power where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.