Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up ancient terror, a chilling supernatural thriller, bowing October 2025 on premium platforms

A spine-tingling paranormal fright fest from dramatist / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an archaic evil when unrelated individuals become puppets in a satanic experiment. Premiering October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish episode of staying alive and primeval wickedness that will transform the horror genre this fall. Helmed by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and tone-heavy tale follows five individuals who wake up trapped in a cut-off hideaway under the malevolent control of Kyra, a tormented girl possessed by a legendary scriptural evil. Anticipate to be drawn in by a audio-visual ride that harmonizes gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a long-standing motif in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reimagined when the presences no longer emerge from a different plane, but rather inside them. This mirrors the haunting side of these individuals. The result is a psychologically brutal psychological battle where the events becomes a relentless clash between innocence and sin.


In a unforgiving outland, five characters find themselves cornered under the possessive sway and curse of a elusive being. As the survivors becomes unable to deny her influence, abandoned and hunted by terrors mind-shattering, they are required to face their deepest fears while the doomsday meter relentlessly counts down toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease mounts and friendships break, demanding each figure to reflect on their being and the idea of self-determination itself. The threat escalate with every heartbeat, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that combines otherworldly panic with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to uncover deep fear, an spirit from prehistory, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and dealing with a presence that threatens selfhood when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra required summoning something beyond human emotion. She is unaware until the invasion happens, and that transition is shocking because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—so that subscribers globally can engage with this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first trailer, which has racked up over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, giving access to the movie to global fright lovers.


Be sure to catch this gripping journey into fear. Watch *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to see these ghostly lessons about existence.


For film updates, production news, and announcements from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across media channels and visit the official digital haunt.





Modern horror’s decisive shift: the 2025 season U.S. Slate weaves old-world possession, independent shockers, in parallel with tentpole growls

From survivor-centric dread drawn from biblical myth and including franchise returns and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is tracking to be the most stratified paired with calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

Call it full, but it is also focused. major banners bookend the months via recognizable brands, simultaneously premium streamers crowd the fall with new voices in concert with legend-coded dread. At the same time, independent banners is propelled by the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the other windows are mapped with care. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are disciplined, which means 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: The Return of Prestige Fear

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal fires the first shot with a statement play: a refreshed Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. landing in mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer wanes, Warner’s slate drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retrograde shiver, trauma as narrative engine, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Plays: Tight funds, wide impact

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a tight space body horror vignette led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. 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 terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 a smart play. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

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

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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

Emerging Currents

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror retakes ground
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Forecast: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The approaching fear season: Sequels, new stories, in tandem with A Crowded Calendar Built For shocks

Dek The emerging genre cycle crowds from day one with a January crush, before it rolls through midyear, and continuing into the winter holidays, fusing IP strength, new voices, and data-minded counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on tight budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and buzz-forward plans that position these pictures into water-cooler talk.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has emerged as the dependable release in studio slates, a segment that can break out when it lands and still buffer the floor when it underperforms. After 2023 showed decision-makers that modestly budgeted chillers can steer cultural conversation, the following year kept energy high with high-profile filmmaker pieces and word-of-mouth wins. The carry rolled into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and prestige plays proved there is a lane for several lanes, from brand follow-ups to director-led originals that translate worldwide. The upshot for 2026 is a slate that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with purposeful groupings, a spread of known properties and first-time concepts, and a re-energized emphasis on box-office windows that drive downstream revenue on premium home window and streaming.

Schedulers say the category now performs as a utility player on the calendar. The genre can roll out on most weekends, offer a tight logline for trailers and platform-native cuts, and overperform with audiences that respond on Thursday previews and continue through the next weekend if the movie connects. On the heels of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 mapping indicates comfort in that playbook. The year kicks off with a busy January corridor, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while carving room for a fall cadence that connects to the Halloween frame and into early November. The schedule also reflects the ongoing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can launch in limited release, grow buzz, and grow at the proper time.

A reinforcing pattern is IP cultivation across unified worlds and legacy IP. Distribution groups are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are moving to present lineage with a headline quality, whether that is a graphic identity that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that links a upcoming film to a classic era. At the in tandem, the writer-directors behind the most buzzed-about originals are favoring real-world builds, in-camera effects and place-driven backdrops. That fusion affords 2026 a vital pairing of assurance and invention, which is how the films export.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two headline moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, signaling it as both a passing of the torch and a origin-leaning character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the narrative stance points to a fan-service aware campaign without going over the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run centered on classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a tease cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will double down on. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will seek broad awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format inviting quick updates to whatever owns horror talk that spring.

Universal has three specific plays. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is tidy, loss-driven, and commercial: a grieving man activates an AI companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date lines it up at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to reprise viral uncanny stunts and quick hits that melds devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a proper title to become an earned moment closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. His projects are treated as creative events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The pre-Halloween slot offers Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning method can feel deluxe on a middle budget. Expect a red-band summer horror charge that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is billing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both longtime followers and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can lift PLF interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by immersive craft and archaic language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The label has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is strong.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform windowing in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a structure that maximizes both opening-weekend urgency and subscriber lifts in the later window. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with worldwide entries and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in catalog discovery, using featured rows, horror hubs, and curated rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival additions, locking in horror entries tight to release and framing as events rollouts with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a dual-phase of tailored theatrical exposure and fast windowing that monetizes buzz via trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown a willingness to invest in select projects with prestige directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for sustained usage when the genre conversation peaks.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 runway with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is simple: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, updated for modern soundscapes and visuals. 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 suggested a theatrical-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the October weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to increase reach. That positioning has worked well for prestige horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception warrants. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using mini theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By weight, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is brand wear. The operating solution is to market each entry as a new angle. Paramount is underscoring character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a rising filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and talent-first projects keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the assembly is grounded enough to generate pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent-year comps announce the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that observed windows did not stop a day-date move from succeeding when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reframe POV and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Behind-the-camera trends

The craft conversations behind the 2026 slate indicate a continued lean toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that foregrounds aura and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a first look that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and creates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta inflection that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will live or die on monster work and world-building, which fit with expo activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is loaded. 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 marquee brands. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the range of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring prepare summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Film-by-film briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s synthetic partner unfolds into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: great post to read 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. 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 prickly boss push to survive on a cut-off island as the power dynamic inverts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 modern reimagining that returns the monster to terror, shaped by Cronin’s on-set craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting scenario that channels the fear through a preteen’s unsteady personal vantage. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-supported and toplined ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that lampoons modern genre fads and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further extends again, with a new clan lashed to returning horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: moving forward. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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-specific language and primal menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly 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 dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, select scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will coexist across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 exploit those windows. 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, 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 texture, sonics, 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.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand heft where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.