Antediluvian Evil Stirs within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 on premium platforms

This frightening occult shockfest from author / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primordial force when passersby become tools in a demonic conflict. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking story of continuance and ancient evil that will redefine scare flicks this harvest season. Visualized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and shadowy tale follows five young adults who come to stranded in a unreachable shelter under the ominous dominion of Kyra, a young woman consumed by a 2,000-year-old holy text monster. Anticipate to be shaken by a narrative outing that merges raw fear with spiritual backstory, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a legendary concept in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the beings no longer develop from beyond, but rather internally. This suggests the most terrifying part of each of them. The result is a intense cognitive warzone where the narrative becomes a perpetual face-off between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken wilderness, five young people find themselves caught under the evil aura and domination of a elusive female figure. As the group becomes unresisting to fight her grasp, detached and tormented by presences unfathomable, they are pushed to acknowledge their raw vulnerabilities while the timeline without pity counts down toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia intensifies and links shatter, forcing each figure to examine their personhood and the notion of freedom of choice itself. The stakes surge with every short lapse, delivering a chilling narrative that combines ghostly evil with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to draw upon instinctual horror, an entity from ancient eras, manifesting in human fragility, and exposing a force that peels away humanity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra needed manifesting something beneath mortal despair. She is clueless until the takeover begins, and that conversion is terrifying because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring watchers everywhere can enjoy this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its initial teaser, which has racked up over strong viewer count.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, taking the terror to viewers around the world.


Witness this unforgettable fall into madness. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to witness these evil-rooted truths about the mind.


For sneak peeks, making-of footage, and promotions from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit the film’s website.





U.S. horror’s inflection point: the year 2025 U.S. release slate blends biblical-possession ideas, festival-born jolts, and Franchise Rumbles

Running from grit-forward survival fare infused with mythic scripture as well as series comebacks plus incisive indie visions, 2025 is lining up as the most textured combined with deliberate year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. leading studios lay down anchors with familiar IP, even as platform operators front-load the fall with new perspectives and archetypal fear. At the same time, the art-house flank is surfing the momentum of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A fat September–October lane is customary now, though in this cycle, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are exacting, so 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 accelerates.

Universal kicks off the frame with a big gambit: a modernized Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Directed by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. dated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer wanes, Warner’s slate releases the last chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson re boards, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: 70s style chill, trauma foregrounded, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, stretches the animatronic parade, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a sealed box body horror arc with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it looks like a certain fall stream.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 a clever angle. No swollen lore. No franchise baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Brands: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, 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 first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

What to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forward View: 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. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming fright slate: next chapters, fresh concepts, plus A Crowded Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The brand-new terror calendar clusters from the jump with a January traffic jam, before it stretches through summer corridors, and continuing into the year-end corridor, blending brand heft, novel approaches, and savvy release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are doubling down on responsible budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-driven marketing that transform these films into national conversation.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has shown itself to be the dependable play in programming grids, a pillar that can scale when it connects and still hedge the exposure when it misses. After 2023 demonstrated to greenlighters that lean-budget chillers can shape cultural conversation, the following year sustained momentum with high-profile filmmaker pieces and stealth successes. The head of steam rolled into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and critical darlings showed there is room for a spectrum, from continued chapters to original one-offs that export nicely. The combined impact for 2026 is a grid that seems notably aligned across the field, with intentional bunching, a mix of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a re-energized focus on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on premium rental and digital services.

Executives say the genre now operates like a versatile piece on the rollout map. The genre can premiere on almost any weekend, supply a quick sell for trailers and social clips, and exceed norms with fans that come out on previews Thursday and stick through the follow-up frame if the release connects. Following a work stoppage lag, the 2026 cadence signals conviction in that dynamic. The calendar kicks off with a stacked January run, then leans on spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a autumn push that carries into the Halloween corridor and into the next week. The calendar also highlights the continuing integration of specialty arms and platforms that can nurture a platform play, grow buzz, and roll out at the optimal moment.

An added macro current is IP cultivation across shared universes and long-running brands. The players are not just rolling another continuation. They are trying to present lineage with a specialness, whether that is a art treatment that indicates a reframed mood or a star attachment that anchors a next entry to a first wave. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the top original plays are doubling down on practical craft, in-camera effects and specific settings. That mix affords 2026 a solid mix of assurance and invention, which is how the films export.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount leads early with two spotlight projects that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a classic-mode character-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a throwback-friendly approach without replaying the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Look for a marketing run centered on iconic art, character spotlights, and a tiered teaser plan slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will drive mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format inviting quick turns to whatever drives the discourse that spring.

Universal has three differentiated strategies. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, tragic, and concept-forward: a grieving man activates an algorithmic mate that evolves into a lethal partner. The date places it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s team likely to echo uncanny live moments and short-cut promos that mixes affection and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s pictures are branded as signature events, with a teaser that reveals little and a next wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date lets the studio to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, practical-first execution can feel cinematic on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a viscera-heavy summer horror shock that maximizes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, keeping a reliable supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is calling a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both franchise faithful and first-timers. The fall slot gives Sony More about the author time to build promo materials around environmental design, and monster design, elements that can amplify large-format demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

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 extends Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in obsessive craft and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. The company has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s releases shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a ladder that fortifies both week-one demand and trial spikes in the later window. Prime Video pairs licensed titles with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in back-catalog play, using in-app campaigns, horror hubs, and collection rows to prolong the run on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about originals and festival pickups, confirming horror entries near launch and staging as events arrivals with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a tiered of targeted theatrical exposure and fast windowing that turns chatter to conversion. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to purchase select projects with acclaimed directors or star-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for retention when the genre conversation builds.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 pipeline with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, recalibrated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the October weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the year-end corridor to go wider. That positioning has paid off for auteur horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception justifies. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using precision theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Known brands versus new stories

By skew, the 2026 slate skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit cultural cachet. The question, as ever, is overexposure. The operating solution is to brand each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is leading with character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and auteur plays provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand this contact form unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the bundle is recognizable enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Rolling three-year comps help explain the plan. In 2023, a exclusive window model that respected streaming windows did not stop a same-day experiment from paying off when the brand was sticky. In 2024, director-craft get redirected here horror punched above its weight in PLF. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they change perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, enables marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to leave creative active without lulls.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind the 2026 entries signal a continued move toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that centers texture and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in trade spotlights and craft coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and produces shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-aware reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature work and production design, which match well with convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel necessary. Look for trailers that elevate fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that sing on PLF.

Annual flow

January is crowded. 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 atmospheric change-up amid marquee brands. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tone spread gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth persists.

Pre-summer months load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s 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 jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Shoulder season into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a late-September window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited asset reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and holiday card usage.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s machine mate grows into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: atmospheric 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 hard-edged boss struggle to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order tilts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s physical craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 closed-door haunting tale that pipes the unease through a little one’s unsteady subjective lens. Rating: rating pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that skewers today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: pending. Production: production booked for fall 2025. 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 erupts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a different family snared by lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: pending. Production: ongoing. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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-accurate language and raw menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three execution-level forces shape this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will trade weekends across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 chase continues in Q1, where lower and 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 harvest those lanes. 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound, 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.

2026 Looks Exciting

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.