Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primeval malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

A spine-tingling mystic fear-driven tale from cinematographer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an archaic dread when newcomers become instruments in a cursed experiment. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching depiction of survival and primeval wickedness that will reimagine fear-driven cinema this harvest season. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and immersive suspense flick follows five figures who find themselves trapped in a far-off cottage under the hostile dominion of Kyra, a young woman possessed by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Brace yourself to be shaken by a big screen venture that blends soul-chilling terror with mystical narratives, hitting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a long-standing concept in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reversed when the spirits no longer develop outside the characters, but rather inside them. This illustrates the most primal aspect of the players. The result is a emotionally raw emotional conflict where the drama becomes a ongoing contest between right and wrong.


In a forsaken outland, five characters find themselves trapped under the sinister effect and curse of a elusive figure. As the survivors becomes submissive to break her manipulation, marooned and hunted by entities indescribable, they are cornered to encounter their greatest panics while the seconds without pity runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust amplifies and ties shatter, pushing each protagonist to challenge their essence and the philosophy of free will itself. The consequences accelerate with every heartbeat, delivering a nightmarish journey that weaves together unearthly horror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to extract raw dread, an threat born of forgotten ages, operating within fragile psyche, and questioning a entity that strips down our being when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that metamorphosis is haunting because it is so unshielded.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—making sure watchers from coast to coast can be part of this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its initial teaser, which has garnered over a viral response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, delivering the story to global fright lovers.


Join this life-altering journey into fear. Explore *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these dark realities about the psyche.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and updates straight from the filmmakers, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s tipping point: the year 2025 domestic schedule blends Mythic Possession, indie terrors, stacked beside franchise surges

Moving from grit-forward survival fare infused with legendary theology through to brand-name continuations paired with pointed art-house angles, 2025 looks like the most textured paired with calculated campaign year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles by way of signature titles, at the same time streamers prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs plus mythic dread. In the indie lane, independent banners is propelled by the tailwinds from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio and Mini-Major Strategies: Prestige fear returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s pipeline begins the calendar with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. timed for mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer wanes, Warner Bros. bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Next is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: 70s style chill, trauma as text, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This run ups the stakes, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, broadens the animatronic terror cast, speaking to teens and older millennials. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a room scale body horror descent featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a smart play. No bloated canon. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

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

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Emerging Currents

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

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

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The coming 2026 Horror lineup: returning titles, universe starters, and also A Crowded Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek: The upcoming genre year crams up front with a January cluster, following that rolls through summer, and pushing into the holiday frame, braiding marquee clout, original angles, and savvy release strategy. The major players are leaning into responsible budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and social-fueled campaigns that shape these offerings into culture-wide discussion.

Where horror stands going into 2026

Horror has become the dependable lever in studio lineups, a corner that can spike when it breaks through and still insulate the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can own cultural conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The energy flowed into 2025, where resurrections and festival-grade titles made clear there is room for several lanes, from series extensions to fresh IP that export nicely. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a run that appears tightly organized across the industry, with defined corridors, a blend of known properties and novel angles, and a re-energized strategy on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and OTT platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now behaves like a versatile piece on the slate. Horror can roll out on almost any weekend, generate a easy sell for marketing and platform-native cuts, and overperform with moviegoers that turn out on Thursday nights and continue through the second weekend if the release fires. Exiting a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan signals faith in that playbook. The year gets underway with a weighty January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while reserving space for a October build that stretches into late October and past Halloween. The schedule also includes the greater integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the proper time.

A notable top-line trend is brand strategy across shared universes and classic IP. The companies are not just making another continuation. They are shaping as threaded continuity with a specialness, whether that is a logo package that flags a reframed mood or a casting pivot that ties a latest entry to a heyday. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on on-set craft, on-set effects and specific settings. That alloy gives the 2026 slate a vital pairing of comfort and newness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount sets the tone early with two spotlight moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, steering it as both a legacy handover and a rootsy character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the directional approach points to a fan-service aware angle without replaying the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Count on a promo wave centered on classic imagery, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will emphasize. As a summer contrast play, this one will drive four-quadrant chatter through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever dominates pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is efficient, tragic, and logline-clear: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that shifts into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to renew creepy live activations and micro spots that mixes companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an headline beat closer to the initial promo. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. The filmmaker’s films are framed as filmmaker events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date opens a lane to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has demonstrated that a raw, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel elevated on a mid-range budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror jolt that centers international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, carrying a steady supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is describing as a fresh restart 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 fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build materials around setting detail, and creature builds, elements that can amplify premium format interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and archaic language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform tactics for 2026 run on familiar rails. The studio’s horror films window into copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a structure that amplifies both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the post-theatrical. Prime Video interleaves library titles with worldwide buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and curated rows to extend momentum on lifetime take. Netflix plays opportunist about originals and festival grabs, timing horror entries closer to launch and eventizing debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a laddered of selective theatrical runs and fast windowing that converts WOM to subscribers. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to take on select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation peaks.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 lane with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is uncomplicated: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, refined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has paid off for director-led genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using precision theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Balance of brands and originals

By volume, the 2026 slate tips toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate name recognition. The concern, as ever, is brand wear. The operating solution is to brand each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the team and cast is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set help explain the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not block a day-date try from working when the brand was strong. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror rose in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 lensed back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to cross-link entries through cast and motif and to keep assets in-market without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The creative meetings behind this slate forecast a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that emphasizes mood and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in trade spotlights and guild coverage before rolling out a atmospheric tease that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and produces shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to expo activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

How the year maps out

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid macro-brand pushes. The month concludes 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 stiff, but the range of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth holds.

February through May set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can deliver 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.

Late-season stretch leans IP. 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 shoulder season window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited previews that trade in concept over detail.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to confront 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 sorrowing man’s digital partner mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a More about the author lost love, only to run into a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: mood-led 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 demanding boss try to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to terror, anchored by Cronin’s material craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. 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 closed-door haunting story that toys with the fear of a child’s wobbly impressions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A parody return that teases hot-button genre motifs and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 ignites, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family anchored to old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically weblink strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-first horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBD. Production: proceeding. 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 historical diction and elemental menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three practical forces shape this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage shareable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will coexist across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 breakout 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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 useful reference for Cineverse titles. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, aural design, and camera work 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

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is name recognition where it counts, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the scares sell the seats.