Mythic Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding horror feature, landing Oct 2025 on major platforms

A chilling spiritual thriller from scriptwriter / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an forgotten nightmare when unfamiliar people become instruments in a satanic trial. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing account of living through and old world terror that will redefine terror storytelling this Halloween season. Crafted by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and eerie fearfest follows five characters who regain consciousness caught in a remote shack under the malevolent command of Kyra, a female presence dominated by a legendary sacrosanct terror. Ready yourself to be enthralled by a theatrical experience that melds instinctive fear with ancestral stories, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a historical narrative in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is inverted when the demons no longer develop from elsewhere, but rather inside them. This symbolizes the darkest layer of these individuals. The result is a bone-chilling mind game where the story becomes a soul-crushing contest between virtue and vice.


In a abandoned wilderness, five youths find themselves imprisoned under the fiendish sway and overtake of a obscure spirit. As the companions becomes incapable to resist her command, detached and preyed upon by powers mind-shattering, they are pushed to battle their greatest panics while the timeline coldly moves toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion intensifies and bonds disintegrate, pushing each character to evaluate their character and the foundation of self-determination itself. The risk accelerate with every instant, delivering a chilling narrative that intertwines supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to dive into deep fear, an force before modern man, embedding itself in our fears, and navigating a power that forces self-examination when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra called for internalizing something far beyond human desperation. She is uninformed until the entity awakens, and that transition is haunting because it is so close.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for home viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering audiences no matter where they are can be part of this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has been viewed over 100,000 views.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, exporting the fear to international horror buffs.


Don’t miss this heart-stopping spiral into evil. Confront *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to survive these unholy truths about the soul.


For teasers, set experiences, and announcements via the production team, follow @YACMovie across media channels and visit the movie’s homepage.





Current horror’s inflection point: 2025 across markets U.S. rollouts integrates legend-infused possession, signature indie scares, paired with returning-series thunder

Spanning pressure-cooker survival tales suffused with legendary theology and stretching into returning series in concert with surgical indie voices, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex plus precision-timed year in the past ten years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Top studios stabilize the year using marquee IP, in tandem streaming platforms load up the fall with discovery plays together with legend-coded dread. On the independent axis, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is carried on the uplift of 2024’s record festival wave. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, however this time, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are exacting, so 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s slate lights the fuse with a big gambit: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in an immediate now. Under director Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Under Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule releases the last chapter from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re teams, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma as text, and eerie supernatural logic. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, grows the animatronic horror lineup, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Digital Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a room scale body horror descent led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 a smart play. No swollen lore. No IP hangover. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Signals and Trends

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

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 like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

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.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The new fright release year: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, in tandem with A busy Calendar calibrated for nightmares

Dek The emerging scare year crowds from the jump with a January logjam, thereafter unfolds through summer corridors, and straight through the year-end corridor, combining name recognition, untold stories, and smart offsets. Distributors with platforms are relying on right-sized spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that elevate the slate’s entries into four-quadrant talking points.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This category has grown into the bankable play in distribution calendars, a lane that can expand when it connects and still hedge the exposure when it falls short. After the 2023 year demonstrated to buyers that modestly budgeted scare machines can drive cultural conversation, 2024 held pace with visionary-driven titles and sleeper breakouts. The run rolled into the 2025 frame, where revivals and prestige plays made clear there is a lane for a variety of tones, from returning installments to standalone ideas that carry overseas. The takeaway for 2026 is a run that appears tightly organized across the industry, with planned clusters, a mix of familiar brands and novel angles, and a re-energized strategy on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on PVOD and platforms.

Schedulers say the category now performs as a utility player on the grid. Horror can bow on many corridors, generate a simple premise for spots and shorts, and outstrip with ticket buyers that respond on Thursday nights and keep coming through the second frame if the film works. Emerging from a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 plan indicates belief in that approach. The slate launches with a busy January schedule, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while leaving room for a autumn push that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and afterwards. The program also illustrates the deeper integration of boutique distributors and streaming partners that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and go nationwide at the proper time.

Another broad trend is franchise tending across unified worlds and long-running brands. The companies are not just turning out another installment. They are looking to package lore continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a logo package that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that anchors a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the headline-grabbing originals are doubling down on tactile craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That fusion produces the 2026 slate a lively combination of trust and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount fires first with two centerpiece releases that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the heart, steering it as both a relay and a classic-mode character piece. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a nostalgia-forward approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive leaning on brand visuals, character-first teases, and a promo sequence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical 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 in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after broad awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format enabling quick shifts to whatever dominates trend lines that spring.

Universal has three defined plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is straightforward, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man onboards an digital partner that escalates into a deadly partner. The date nudges it to the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s marketing likely to bring back strange in-person beats and short-cut promos that melds devotion and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a public 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 reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s work are framed as event films, with a hinting teaser and a second wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date affords Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has demonstrated that a tactile, in-camera leaning treatment can feel premium on a moderate cost. Expect a grime-caked summer horror surge that centers overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio deploys two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a bankable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is positioning as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around universe detail, and monster craft, elements that can lift PLF interest and cosplay-friendly fan 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 follows Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by historical precision and language, this time set against lycan legends. The company has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform strategies for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a pacing that fortifies both opening-weekend urgency and subscriber lifts in the post-theatrical. Prime Video continues to mix licensed films with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in catalog discovery, using featured rows, October hubs, and handpicked rows to lengthen the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix films and festival additions, dating horror entries near launch and coalescing around premieres with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a tiered of precision theatrical plays and speedy platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a selective basis. The platform has indicated interest to invest in select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 slate with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday slot to scale. That positioning has served the company well for prestige horror with audience crossover. 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 safe bet is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception drives. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using mini theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By count, 2026 tips toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit marquee value. The watch-out, as ever, is overexposure. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French sensibility from a hot helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the template. In 2023, a theater-first model that observed windows did not block a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium formats. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without hiatuses.

How the films are being made

The production chatter behind 2026 horror telegraph a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that emphasizes mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature design and production design, which match well with fan conventions and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that center precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that benefit on big speakers.

The schedule at a glance

January is busy. 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 foggy reset amid macro-brand pushes. The month ends 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 legit, but the mix of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a slow-reveal plan and limited asset reveals that center concept over reveals.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift card usage.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: More about the author Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s machine mate shifts into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: gothic-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 demanding boss push to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command flips and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller 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 re-envisioning that returns the monster to chill, rooted in Cronin’s in-camera craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting setup that routes the horror through a kid’s unreliable personal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-financed and celebrity-led paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A genre lampoon that targets contemporary horror memes and true crime fervors. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new clan entangled with ancient dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward true survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: not yet rated. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 elemental menace. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three pragmatic forces organize this lineup. First, production that paused or shuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous 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 mine turnkey scare beats from test screenings, metered scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can seize a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will coexist across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

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

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where midrange-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 quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized 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 dimensionality, sound field, 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 Looks Exciting

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, lock the reveals, and let the fear sell the seats.