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

One blood-curdling unearthly terror film from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an timeless nightmare when drifters become vehicles in a fiendish ritual. Available this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful depiction of living through and forgotten curse that will alter genre cinema this ghoul season. Crafted by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and tone-heavy story follows five teens who suddenly rise sealed in a cut-off hideaway under the malevolent grip of Kyra, a mysterious girl consumed by a prehistoric ancient fiend. Brace yourself to be shaken by a motion picture journey that unites deep-seated panic with biblical origins, unleashing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a legendary foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the forces no longer descend from elsewhere, but rather internally. This illustrates the haunting corner of the protagonists. The result is a emotionally raw mind game where the narrative becomes a intense struggle between purity and corruption.


In a haunting landscape, five souls find themselves contained under the dark sway and haunting of a secretive person. As the characters becomes submissive to reject her influence, cut off and followed by evils inconceivable, they are required to stand before their darkest emotions while the deathwatch without pity ticks onward toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension mounts and friendships collapse, pressuring each character to scrutinize their values and the foundation of conscious will itself. The stakes amplify with every tick, delivering a paranormal ride that blends mystical fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to uncover ancestral fear, an force that existed before mankind, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and challenging a darkness that strips down our being when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra was about accessing something more primal than sorrow. She is in denial until the entity awakens, and that transformation is shocking because it is so private.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—making sure watchers worldwide can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its original clip, which has attracted over 100K plays.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, offering the tale to a worldwide audience.


Mark your calendar for this heart-stopping spiral into evil. Join *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to confront these dark realities about existence.


For exclusive trailers, on-set glimpses, and alerts from the creators, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror tipping point: 2025 across markets U.S. lineup interlaces Mythic Possession, art-house nightmares, set against series shake-ups

Ranging from life-or-death fear drawn from legendary theology as well as returning series plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the richest paired with tactically planned year for the modern era.

Call it full, but it is also focused. major banners hold down the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously digital services front-load the fall with new perspectives set against scriptural shivers. In the indie lane, the independent cohort is buoyed by the kinetic energy from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are methodical, which means 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: The Return of Prestige Fear

The top end is active. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s slate opens the year with a confident swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, inside today’s landscape. Steered by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. timed for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Guided by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot unveils the final movement from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma explicitly handled, paired with unsettling supernatural order. The stakes escalate here, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Digital Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and 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 comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend led by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

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

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No legacy baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They are more runway than museum.

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

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy IP: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in 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.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. 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

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

The Road Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming spook slate: Sequels, original films, alongside A stacked Calendar optimized for chills

Dek: The new genre calendar crowds from the jump with a January cluster, from there extends through summer corridors, and well into the December corridor, blending IP strength, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing efficient budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and short-form initiatives that frame genre titles into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable tool in release plans, a genre that can surge when it catches and still buffer the downside when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year re-taught decision-makers that disciplined-budget scare machines can dominate the zeitgeist, the following year kept energy high with buzzy auteur projects and sleeper breakouts. The momentum pushed into 2025, where returns and elevated films proved there is an opening for many shades, from ongoing IP entries to original one-offs that export nicely. The combined impact for 2026 is a run that reads highly synchronized across studios, with planned clusters, a harmony of brand names and novel angles, and a renewed eye on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Executives say the genre now acts as a fill-in ace on the schedule. The genre can open on most weekends, furnish a sharp concept for promo reels and short-form placements, and overperform with viewers that line up on opening previews and continue through the next pass if the entry hits. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 plan indicates belief in that playbook. The slate commences with a front-loaded January lineup, then plants flags in spring and early summer for contrast, while saving space for a late-year stretch that flows toward holiday-adjacent weekends and beyond. The program also reflects the expanded integration of arthouse labels and streamers that can build gradually, build word of mouth, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A further high-level trend is legacy care across connected story worlds and established properties. Studio teams are not just turning out another installment. They are moving to present lore continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a title design that suggests a new tone or a talent selection that binds a new installment to a initial period. At the simultaneously, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, physical gags and place-driven backdrops. That mix offers 2026 a solid mix of trust and invention, which is what works overseas.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile entries that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the center, framing it as both a relay and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a nostalgia-forward framework without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Plan for a rollout centered on classic imagery, character previews, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will spotlight. As a summer contrast play, this one will seek large awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick pivots to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three separate plays. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is elegant, sorrow-tinged, and logline-clear: a grieving man sets up an artificial companion that evolves into a killer companion. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with the Universal machine likely to recreate uncanny-valley stunts and quick hits that fuses companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a public title to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele titles are marketed as signature events, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot lets the studio to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, practical-first strategy can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror surge that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is presenting as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both players and new audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build marketing units around lore, and monster craft, elements that can amplify PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by immersive craft and linguistic texture, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is supportive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on familiar rails. The studio’s horror films head to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a pacing that elevates both week-one demand and platform bumps in the back half. Prime Video interleaves acquired titles with world buys and brief theater runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in deep cuts, using featured rows, spooky hubs, and featured rows to prolong the run on the 2026 genre total. Netflix keeps options open about internal projects and festival wins, finalizing horror entries closer to drop and staging as events releases with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a hybrid of precision releases and rapid platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has indicated interest to secure select projects with prestige directors or name-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation intensifies.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 corridor with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is tight: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, modernized for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a traditional cinema play for the title, an positive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to open out. That positioning has been successful for elevated genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception allows. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using limited runs to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By tilt, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness household recognition. The concern, as ever, is viewer burnout. The practical approach is to brand each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is underscoring character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a European tilt from a ascendant talent. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and visionary-led titles 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, places Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the cast-creatives package is recognizable enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and early previews.

Rolling three-year comps outline the template. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that maintained windows did not block a dual release from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, auteur craft horror surged in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through character web and themes and to keep assets alive without long breaks.

Creative tendencies and craft

The shop talk behind the upcoming entries hint at a continued turn 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-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that centers texture and More about the author dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in feature stories and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a teaser that withholds plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster aesthetics and world-building, which are ideal for convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar cadence

January is loaded. 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 brooding contrast amid big-brand pushes. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the spread of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth carries.

Q1 into Q2 build the summer base. Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can win the holiday when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s DNA. 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 grieving man’s AI companion turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 unyielding boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power inverts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to terror, anchored by Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting tale that routes the horror through a youngster’s volatile inner lens. Rating: TBD. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-scale and star-led supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A satire sequel that skewers in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fervors. Rating: pending. Production: filming slated for 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 flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new clan tethered to ancient dread. Rating: to be announced. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over action fireworks. Rating: forthcoming. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: pending. Production: advancing. 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 time-true diction and primal menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a cinema-first path before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or shifted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and compressed schedules. 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage social-ready stingers from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, making room for genre entries that can capture a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will share space across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where value-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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, 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 fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundscape, and framing 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand equity where it matters, creative ambition where it counts, 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.