Age-old Horror Surfaces within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling shocker, arriving October 2025 across global platforms

This blood-curdling mystic fear-driven tale from literary architect / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an long-buried malevolence when unknowns become puppets in a demonic contest. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing journey of struggle and timeless dread that will reimagine scare flicks this Halloween season. Directed by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and moody story follows five unacquainted souls who snap to confined in a wooded hideaway under the menacing sway of Kyra, a central character overtaken by a timeless religious nightmare. Ready yourself to be ensnared by a cinematic spectacle that weaves together intense horror with mystical narratives, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a time-honored foundation in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is inverted when the beings no longer descend from an outside force, but rather deep within. This represents the most sinister part of the protagonists. The result is a relentless internal warfare where the tension becomes a perpetual push-pull between light and darkness.


In a remote wilderness, five characters find themselves contained under the ominous presence and haunting of a haunted spirit. As the survivors becomes paralyzed to reject her will, stranded and pursued by presences indescribable, they are driven to stand before their raw vulnerabilities while the time unceasingly pushes forward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust rises and links collapse, urging each member to challenge their being and the concept of autonomy itself. The intensity grow with every instant, delivering a chilling narrative that intertwines mystical fear with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to uncover raw dread, an presence from ancient eras, filtering through emotional fractures, and wrestling with a spirit that threatens selfhood when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant channeling something darker than pain. She is clueless until the control shifts, and that flip is haunting because it is so personal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for home viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing viewers globally can be part of this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its first preview, which has earned over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, making the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Join this mind-warping descent into hell. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to see these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For behind-the-scenes access, making-of footage, and news straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursed across media channels and visit the official movie site.





Today’s horror Turning Point: 2025 U.S. release slate blends biblical-possession ideas, art-house nightmares, together with Franchise Rumbles

From pressure-cooker survival tales steeped in ancient scripture to installment follow-ups as well as pointed art-house angles, 2025 is emerging as the most complex as well as calculated campaign year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. major banners set cornerstones with established lines, in tandem subscription platforms prime the fall with fresh voices set against ancestral chills. Across the art-house lane, independent banners is carried on the backdraft from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, which means 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

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

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate lights the fuse with a statement play: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Helmed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner’s slate drops the final chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: vintage toned fear, trauma centered writing, and a cold supernatural calculus. Here the stakes rise, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

SVOD Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a room scale body horror descent fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No puffed out backstory. No IP hangover. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

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

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, 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 Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror reemerges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall stack and winter swing card

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The upcoming spook year to come: brand plays, universe starters, alongside A brimming Calendar geared toward nightmares

Dek The current scare year lines up in short order with a January traffic jam, after that rolls through the summer months, and continuing into the year-end corridor, fusing IP strength, new concepts, and well-timed counterprogramming. Studios and streamers are leaning into responsible budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-fueled campaigns that elevate these releases into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror marketplace has become the steady play in annual schedules, a corner that can surge when it performs and still mitigate the liability when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year demonstrated to greenlighters that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can steer mainstream conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The energy pushed into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and arthouse crossovers proved there is a lane for different modes, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that travel well. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a programming that is strikingly coherent across companies, with mapped-out bands, a combination of marquee IP and untested plays, and a recommitted attention on cinema windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and SVOD.

Planners observe the space now operates like a flex slot on the programming map. Horror can launch on nearly any frame, deliver a tight logline for marketing and TikTok spots, and outstrip with fans that turn out on preview nights and stay strong through the next pass if the film pays off. After a production delay era, the 2026 setup telegraphs confidence in that approach. The calendar opens with a weighty January corridor, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a October build that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and past the holiday. The layout also illustrates the deeper integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can platform a title, grow buzz, and expand at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. Major shops are not just turning out another sequel. They are setting up lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a re-angled tone or a talent selection that threads a next entry to a early run. At the parallel to that, the creative leads behind the marquee originals are prioritizing tactile craft, practical gags and place-driven backdrops. That interplay delivers 2026 a smart balance of brand comfort and discovery, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount opens strong with two prominent releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character study. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the tonal posture points to a roots-evoking framework without looping the last two entries’ sibling arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on signature symbols, intro reveals, and a staggered trailer plan slated for late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will pursue wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique releases. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is clean, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that grows into a lethal partner. The date places it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to iterate on uncanny live moments and brief clips that mixes attachment and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an earned moment closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele titles are set up as event films, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window Source to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, practical-effects forward strategy can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Look for a gore-forward summer horror blast that centers worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, continuing a proven supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is describing as a reimagined restart 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 well-defined brief to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build materials around setting detail, and creature builds, elements that can amplify premium format interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in rigorous craft and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already locked the day for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform tactics for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that boosts both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the downstream. Prime Video combines acquired titles with worldwide buys and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, holiday hubs, and featured rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival deals, scheduling horror entries with shorter lead times and elevating as drops debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that turns chatter to conversion. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to take on select projects with award winners or star packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 lane 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 offer is no-nonsense: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a traditional cinema play for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has proved effective for auteur horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception merits. Anticipate 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 together, using limited runs to ignite evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchise entries versus originals

By number, 2026 leans in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit fan equity. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to package each entry as a new angle. Paramount is centering character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is floating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-tinted vision from a fresh helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a island survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the configuration is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years help explain the method. In 2023, a cinema-first model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from working when the brand was big. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they shift POV and stretch the story. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to link the films through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without dead zones.

How the films are being made

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films foreshadow a continued emphasis on tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that spotlights aura and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta pivot that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature design and production design, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

From winter to holidays

January is loaded. 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 foggy reset amid headline IP. The month concludes 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 serious, but the tone spread ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Winter into spring set up the summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August into fall leans series. 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 steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a slow-reveal plan and limited pre-release reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s artificial companion mutates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

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 meet a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss try to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic swivels and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s in-camera craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting chiller that routes the horror through a preteen’s wavering personal vantage. Rating: TBA. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal 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 comic send-up that skewers modern genre fads and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new household entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBD. Production: active. 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 era-accurate language and primordial menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-sequenced in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter 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 surpassed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage meme-ready beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will compete across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 click site the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo 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 shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, audio design, and picture 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 Shapes Up Strong

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand heft where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.