Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives age-old dread, a fear soaked horror thriller, arriving October 2025 on global platforms

One haunting otherworldly suspense film from storyteller / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic dread when guests become subjects in a satanic maze. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching saga of endurance and mythic evil that will reshape horror this cool-weather season. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and tone-heavy screenplay follows five strangers who wake up trapped in a isolated dwelling under the aggressive control of Kyra, a haunted figure inhabited by a millennia-old religious nightmare. Arm yourself to be captivated by a big screen ride that blends bone-deep fear with spiritual backstory, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a legendary tradition in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is reversed when the fiends no longer originate externally, but rather through their own souls. This illustrates the grimmest part of every character. The result is a gripping internal warfare where the conflict becomes a brutal conflict between purity and corruption.


In a remote backcountry, five figures find themselves sealed under the fiendish presence and domination of a secretive apparition. As the ensemble becomes helpless to withstand her curse, left alone and tracked by creatures mind-shattering, they are pushed to battle their deepest fears while the hours coldly ticks onward toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease grows and friendships break, requiring each cast member to challenge their core and the concept of self-determination itself. The pressure rise with every minute, delivering a horror experience that intertwines otherworldly suspense with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to draw upon instinctual horror, an threat beyond recorded history, embedding itself in our fears, and wrestling with a evil that challenges autonomy when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra needed manifesting something unfamiliar to reason. She is blind until the control shifts, and that turn is eerie because it is so intimate.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for worldwide release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving streamers globally can enjoy this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its release of trailer #1, which has earned over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, presenting the nightmare to scare fans abroad.


Experience this soul-jarring exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to survive these evil-rooted truths about the soul.


For previews, making-of footage, and social posts directly from production, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s inflection point: calendar year 2025 stateside slate Mixes myth-forward possession, independent shockers, alongside brand-name tremors

Ranging from last-stand terror suffused with legendary theology and onward to canon extensions paired with surgical indie voices, 2025 is shaping up as the genre’s most multifaceted as well as tactically planned year for the modern era.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. major banners stabilize the year with known properties, even as OTT services stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against ancient terrors. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is fueled by the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, as a result 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: The Return of Prestige Fear

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal Pictures leads off the quarter with a headline swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a sharp contemporary setting. From director Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. dated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. From director Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner Bros. bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, bridging teens and legacy players. It arrives in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters lean on names and sequels, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and helmed 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 hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 calculated bet. No overweight mythology. No sequel clutter. 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 Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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

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. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Emerging Currents

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 comes roaring back
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
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The next chiller slate: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, plus A packed Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek The arriving horror season crams right away with a January cluster, following that runs through midyear, and running into the festive period, blending series momentum, novel approaches, and smart counterprogramming. Major distributors and platforms are relying on cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and viral-minded pushes that pivot horror entries into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the sturdy swing in studio slates, a genre that can grow when it clicks and still mitigate the floor when it falls short. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that responsibly budgeted genre plays can dominate social chatter, 2024 extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The tailwind rolled into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects underscored there is capacity for several lanes, from returning installments to fresh IP that play globally. The takeaway for 2026 is a roster that appears tightly organized across the industry, with clear date clusters, a spread of known properties and new packages, and a recommitted commitment on exhibition windows that feed downstream value on premium on-demand and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the space now performs as a schedule utility on the distribution slate. Horror can bow on virtually any date, offer a clean hook for trailers and TikTok spots, and over-index with moviegoers that turn out on advance nights and return through the next weekend if the offering fires. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 plan exhibits comfort in that engine. The slate rolls out with a thick January window, then leans on spring and early summer for audience offsets, while clearing room for a fall corridor that connects to late October and into the next week. The arrangement also reflects the greater integration of specialty arms and streaming partners that can platform a title, build word of mouth, and expand at the strategic time.

A companion trend is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and established properties. Major shops are not just turning out another sequel. They are shaping as story carry-over with a specialness, whether that is a title design that signals a reframed mood or a ensemble decision that ties a latest entry to a first wave. At the parallel to that, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into in-camera technique, makeup and prosthetics and concrete locations. That mix affords the 2026 slate a smart balance of assurance and shock, which is the formula for international play.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two spotlight moves that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the core, setting it up as both a relay and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a nostalgia-forward approach without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign built on signature symbols, character spotlights, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will feature. As a summer relief option, this one will pursue wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever dominates genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, tragic, and logline-clear: a grieving man onboards an AI companion that grows into a deadly partner. The date locates it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to bring back odd public stunts and bite-size content that mixes attachment and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a official title to become an event moment closer to the early tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. The filmmaker’s films are sold as creative events, with a teaser that reveals little and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal room 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven treatment can feel big on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror shock that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a reliable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is selling as a new take 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 mission to serve both devotees and fresh viewers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can lift premium booking interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by historical precision and dialect, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run feed copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a cadence that maximizes both first-week urgency and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video blends catalogue additions with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in archive usage, using editorial spots, fright rows, and featured rows to lengthen the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about in-house releases and festival grabs, scheduling horror entries with shorter lead times and staging as events debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with accomplished filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 corridor with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is simple: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, updated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the December frame to widen. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception allows. Be ready for 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 tandem, using boutique theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Series vs standalone

By count, the 2026 slate favors the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate legacy awareness. The caveat, as ever, is viewer burnout. The near-term solution is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is leading with character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a continental coloration from a new voice. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add oxygen. 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 simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the cast-creatives package is comforting enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set clarify the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from working when the brand was sticky. In 2024, auteur craft horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, allows marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind this slate indicate a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on grain and menace rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which play well in con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that explode in larger rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is heavy. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid heavier IP. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the spread of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Early-year through spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder season window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s digital partner unfolds into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 lost love, only to confront a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss struggle to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command swivels and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to menace, rooted in Cronin’s practical effects and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting premise that twists the dread of a child’s fragile POV. Rating: TBA. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. 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 flares, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new clan snared by residual nightmares. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for classic survival-horror tone over action spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: in development with a locked date. 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: to be announced. Production: in progress. 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 antique diction and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three nuts-and-bolts forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming placements. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on repeatable beats from test screenings, select scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Calendar math also matters. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will jostle 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 pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first shock 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, 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 escalate across the year, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, 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 detail, sound field, 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is name recognition where it counts, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards great post to read 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the scares sell the seats.