Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases antediluvian malevolence, a chilling supernatural thriller, bowing October 2025 across top digital platforms

One spine-tingling spiritual suspense story from creator / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an age-old evil when passersby become tools in a supernatural conflict. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful episode of endurance and primeval wickedness that will reconstruct the fear genre this autumn. Brought to life by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and cinematic story follows five people who arise stuck in a isolated cabin under the ominous manipulation of Kyra, a cursed figure controlled by a millennia-old sacrosanct terror. Steel yourself to be drawn in by a narrative adventure that combines primitive horror with ancient myths, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a iconic element in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is reimagined when the dark entities no longer emerge from external sources, but rather from their core. This mirrors the grimmest side of all involved. The result is a edge-of-seat cognitive warzone where the story becomes a merciless contest between right and wrong.


In a barren no-man's-land, five teens find themselves confined under the ghastly rule and grasp of a unidentified female presence. As the companions becomes unresisting to withstand her command, exiled and stalked by unknowns impossible to understand, they are compelled to deal with their soulful dreads while the deathwatch relentlessly ticks toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread deepens and links break, pressuring each character to examine their character and the idea of autonomy itself. The consequences rise with every breath, delivering a horror experience that fuses spiritual fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to evoke basic terror, an entity older than civilization itself, working through human fragility, and questioning a will that threatens selfhood when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra required summoning something far beyond human desperation. She is innocent until the evil takes hold, and that turn is deeply unsettling because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that households in all regions can get immersed in this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first preview, which has seen over 100K plays.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, making the film to horror fans worldwide.


Be sure to catch this visceral descent into hell. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to survive these nightmarish insights about the human condition.


For bonus footage, director cuts, and reveals directly from production, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





American horror’s decisive shift: 2025 U.S. Slate Mixes archetypal-possession themes, festival-born jolts, alongside brand-name tremors

From pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by old testament echoes and extending to legacy revivals set beside acutely observed indies, 2025 is coalescing into the most textured in tandem with intentionally scheduled year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors stabilize the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously digital services crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against archetypal fear. On the independent axis, independent banners is fueled by the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween holding the peak, the other windows are mapped with care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are calculated, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium dread reemerges

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp sets the tone with an audacious swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, inside today’s landscape. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Helmed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. sets loose the finale from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson returns, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: nostalgic menace, trauma as narrative engine, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time, the stakes are raised, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It hits in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Digital Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a tight space body horror vignette including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is canny scheduling. No bloated canon. No sequel clutter. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

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

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. 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 appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in 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.

Signals and Trends

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror returns
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Big screen is 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 like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. 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 goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching chiller release year: follow-ups, non-franchise titles, alongside A stacked Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The upcoming scare slate packs in short order with a January crush, then rolls through the mid-year, and far into the December corridor, blending IP strength, creative pitches, and data-minded counter-scheduling. Studios with streamers are leaning into lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that frame genre titles into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror momentum into 2026

This category has grown into the consistent lever in studio lineups, a vertical that can spike when it lands and still insulate the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 reconfirmed for top brass that lean-budget genre plays can galvanize pop culture, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam pushed into the 2025 frame, where returns and filmmaker-prestige bets showed there is demand for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a slate that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with strategic blocks, a spread of brand names and fresh ideas, and a revived attention on big-screen windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium rental and SVOD.

Studio leaders note the space now behaves like a versatile piece on the grid. The genre can debut on nearly any frame, yield a grabby hook for spots and UGC-friendly snippets, and exceed norms with moviegoers that lean in on advance nights and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the feature connects. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 setup reflects trust in that dynamic. The year starts with a busy January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while making space for a autumn push that reaches into Halloween and afterwards. The schedule also reflects the deeper integration of arthouse labels and digital platforms that can build gradually, create conversation, and grow at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is series management across shared IP webs and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just mounting another next film. They are moving to present brand continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title design that signals a re-angled tone or a star attachment that bridges a fresh chapter to a vintage era. At the concurrently, the creative teams behind the most watched originals are returning to material texture, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That pairing affords the 2026 slate a strong blend of brand comfort and novelty, which is why the genre exports well.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount sets the tone early with two marquee pushes that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the focus, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a return-to-roots character study. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a heritage-honoring strategy without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive driven by iconic art, initial cast looks, and a trailer cadence slated for 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 set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build broad awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format making room for quick turns to whatever rules the social talk that spring.

Universal has three defined bets. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is clean, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise uncanny live moments and micro spots that interlaces longing and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s work are presented as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a follow-up trailer set that signal tone without plot the concept. The pre-Halloween slot lets the studio to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and this page IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has proven that a gnarly, physical-effects centered treatment can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror surge that maximizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony 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 focus to serve both players and curious audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign pieces around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can increase large-format demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror centered on careful craft and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ladder that expands both launch urgency and sign-up momentum in the downstream. Prime Video interleaves library titles with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using prominent placements, spooky hubs, and staff picks to sustain interest on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix films and festival wins, securing horror entries closer to launch and eventizing drops with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints 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 working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to take on select projects with award winners or name-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 corridor with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. horror The promise is clean: 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 autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a theatrical-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late-season weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas corridor to widen. That positioning has helped for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception allows. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their audience.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, 2026 is weighted toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The risk, as ever, is brand erosion. The practical approach is to pitch each entry as a new angle. Paramount is spotlighting character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-tinted vision from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is recognizable enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday previews.

Three-year comps help explain the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept clean windows did not prevent a dual release from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror rose in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reorient and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to sustain campaign assets without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The shop talk behind 2026 horror hint at a continued preference for in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a initial 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 designed for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature execution and sets, which align with booth activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel primary. Look for trailers that accent disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Late Q1 and spring stage summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late summer into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s synthetic partner becomes something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

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 be swallowed by a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 work to survive on a rugged island as the control balance swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, founded on Cronin’s hands-on craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that routes the horror through a young child’s flickering point of view. Rating: TBD. Production: picture-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 satirical comeback that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new household caught in old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing. 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 antique diction and elemental dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or re-sequenced in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and condensed timelines. 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on bite-size scare clips from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, clearing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, 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 brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundscape, and imagery 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 shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.