Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a bone chilling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

This blood-curdling occult fear-driven tale from cinematographer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an ancient force when passersby become tools in a demonic game. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense chronicle of survival and old world terror that will remodel the horror genre this scare season. Brought to life by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and eerie feature follows five people who regain consciousness isolated in a unreachable cabin under the oppressive dominion of Kyra, a young woman controlled by a time-worn religious nightmare. Be warned to be drawn in by a screen-based journey that merges bone-deep fear with mystical narratives, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a well-established motif in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is twisted when the entities no longer form beyond the self, but rather internally. This mirrors the malevolent element of the victims. The result is a riveting mental war where the emotions becomes a constant push-pull between purity and corruption.


In a unforgiving wild, five souls find themselves marooned under the ominous presence and infestation of a secretive female figure. As the youths becomes powerless to evade her influence, disconnected and targeted by unknowns ungraspable, they are required to encounter their core terrors while the timeline relentlessly edges forward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion builds and ties erode, pushing each individual to examine their existence and the idea of autonomy itself. The consequences rise with every instant, delivering a chilling narrative that connects unearthly horror with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to tap into elemental fright, an malevolence from prehistory, manifesting in human fragility, and navigating a darkness that forces self-examination when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra demanded embodying something far beyond human desperation. She is in denial until the takeover begins, and that transformation is shocking because it is so close.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving horror lovers in all regions can be part of this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its initial teaser, which has racked up over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, presenting the nightmare to a worldwide audience.


Make sure to see this visceral path of possession. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to uncover these chilling revelations about mankind.


For teasers, filmmaker commentary, and announcements from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Horror’s major pivot: the 2025 season American release plan blends biblical-possession ideas, indie terrors, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare drawn from mythic scripture and stretching into brand-name continuations paired with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as horror’s most layered as well as intentionally scheduled year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. major banners set cornerstones via recognizable brands, even as SVOD players pack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against primordial unease. In the indie lane, indie storytellers is fueled by the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, however this time, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are exacting, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige fear returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s slate starts the year with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. targeting mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner Bros. bows the concluding entry of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: period tinged dread, trauma as narrative engine, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The continuation widens the legend, stretches the animatronic parade, bridging teens and legacy players. It opens in December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a close quarters body horror study 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 toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked 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 From Within: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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 horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is an astute call. No overweight mythology. No brand fatigue. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. 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 fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Heritage Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

What to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Forecast: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. 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. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The coming 2026 Horror season: entries, standalone ideas, together with A packed Calendar tailored for frights

Dek The emerging terror year crowds right away with a January cluster, from there extends through summer corridors, and far into the holiday stretch, mixing marquee clout, new concepts, and strategic calendar placement. Studios with streamers are leaning into tight budgets, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that position these pictures into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has emerged as the bankable play in distribution calendars, a segment that can expand when it hits and still mitigate the losses when it misses. After 2023 reassured strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can dominate social chatter, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The momentum extended into 2025, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is appetite for varied styles, from ongoing IP entries to director-led originals that carry overseas. The net effect for 2026 is a roster that presents tight coordination across the field, with planned clusters, a harmony of brand names and new packages, and a reinvigorated strategy on cinema windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital rental and home streaming.

Studio leaders note the space now operates like a fill-in ace on the rollout map. Horror can roll out on almost any weekend, create a simple premise for teasers and reels, and over-index with crowds that arrive on previews Thursday and continue through the week two if the release delivers. Coming out of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores faith in that logic. The year launches with a stacked January block, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while leaving room for a autumn push that extends to holiday-adjacent weekends and into early November. The program also shows the tightening integration of specialized labels and SVOD players that can build gradually, ignite recommendations, and widen at the optimal moment.

A parallel macro theme is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. Major shops are not just greenlighting another entry. They are seeking to position lineage with a premium feel, whether that is a title treatment that broadcasts a refreshed voice or a casting pivot that reconnects a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are doubling down on real-world builds, this page physical gags and specific settings. That mix provides the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and novelty, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount leads early with two big-ticket moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the focus, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance conveys a memory-charged angle without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected rooted in signature symbols, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also resurrects 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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will seek general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three unique strategies. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is simple, grief-rooted, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an AI companion that evolves into a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s promo team likely to replay eerie street stunts and short-form creative that interweaves affection and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a branding reveal to become an PR pop closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His entries are branded as director events, with a concept-forward tease and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot gives the studio room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate 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 starring. The franchise has made clear that a blood-soaked, practical-effects forward execution can feel cinematic on a efficient spend. Look for a splatter summer horror shock that emphasizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is selling as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both players and newcomers. The fall slot lets Sony to build marketing units around lore, and practical creature work, elements that can boost premium booking interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on careful craft and period speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate window into copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ordering that maximizes both week-one demand and subscriber lifts in the tail. Prime Video will mix licensed content with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in deep cuts, using timely promos, October hubs, and programmed rows to keep attention on the 2026 genre total. Netflix remains opportunistic about original films and festival pickups, slotting horror entries on shorter runways and elevating as drops premieres with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a one-two of focused cinema runs and swift platform pivots that drives paid trials from buzz. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a selective basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to take on select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for platform stickiness when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is curating a 2026 track with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, reimagined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas window to move out. 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 often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception justifies. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using mini theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, 2026 leans toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The question, as ever, is brand erosion. The preferred tactic is to pitch each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is elevating character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the assembly is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Recent comps announce the template. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that honored streaming windows did not preclude a same-day experiment from delivering when the brand was trusted. In 2024, auteur craft horror exceeded expectations in PLF. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they pivot perspective and scale the storytelling. 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 paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, builds a path for marketing to cross-link entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

How the films are being made

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries signal a continued shift toward hands-on, location-grounded 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 closed principal and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates mood and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a first look that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and spurs shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature execution and sets, which align with convention floor stunts and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that center razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month wraps 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 serious, but the variety of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Q1 into Q2 set up the summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Shoulder season into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited plot reveals that elevate concept over story.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s AI companion becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, horror and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 hard-edged boss struggle to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic turns and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, rooted in Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting tale that manipulates the panic of a child’s uncertain perceptions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-financed and star-fronted eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that teases present-day genre chatter and true-crime crazes. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography set 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 bursts, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family entangled with older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-first horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 period language and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026 lands navigate here now

Three execution-level forces organize this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on shareable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will stack across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 modest-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and visuals 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 Robust 2026 On Deck

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand heft where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, guard the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.