Ancient Malevolence surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, premiering October 2025 across global platforms

An hair-raising metaphysical thriller from cinematographer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic horror when guests become proxies in a supernatural contest. Available on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of perseverance and ancient evil that will reshape fear-driven cinema this scare season. Crafted by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and tone-heavy story follows five figures who snap to isolated in a off-grid cabin under the ominous grip of Kyra, a central character haunted by a millennia-old holy text monster. Arm yourself to be enthralled by a cinematic spectacle that combines instinctive fear with legendary tales, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a enduring pillar in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is inverted when the beings no longer develop outside the characters, but rather inside them. This embodies the most sinister corner of every character. The result is a harrowing inner struggle where the drama becomes a relentless confrontation between divinity and wickedness.


In a bleak forest, five adults find themselves caught under the possessive presence and control of a elusive figure. As the group becomes unable to reject her grasp, detached and attacked by powers beyond comprehension, they are required to confront their inner horrors while the clock relentlessly edges forward toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease amplifies and alliances break, urging each survivor to reflect on their values and the concept of independent thought itself. The cost magnify with every breath, delivering a horror experience that blends paranormal dread with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to dive into raw dread, an evil before modern man, filtering through human fragility, and questioning a will that forces self-examination when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra asked for exploring something outside normal anguish. She is uninformed until the haunting manifests, and that change is eerie because it is so close.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for public screening beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring audiences globally can enjoy this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original clip, which has garnered over a viral response.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, giving access to the movie to scare fans abroad.


Don’t miss this soul-jarring journey into fear. Experience *Young & Cursed* this launch day to acknowledge these haunting secrets about mankind.


For exclusive trailers, filmmaker commentary, and insider scoops from the creators, follow @YACMovie across platforms and visit our spooky domain.





Contemporary horror’s sea change: 2025 across markets domestic schedule fuses old-world possession, Indie Shockers, plus brand-name tremors

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare drawn from old testament echoes and stretching into canon extensions paired with surgical indie voices, 2025 is lining up as the most stratified plus tactically planned year in years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. leading studios are anchoring the year with known properties, even as subscription platforms crowd the fall with debut heat alongside scriptural shivers. In the indie lane, horror’s indie wing is carried on the echoes from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are calculated, so 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige fear returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the base, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Eli Craig directs starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures rolls out the capstone of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson re teams, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma as narrative engine, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This run ups the stakes, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The next entry deepens the tale, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It drops in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

With cinemas leaning into known IP, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a sealed box body horror arc led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and directed 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No overstuffed canon. No brand fatigue. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. 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. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts 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, under Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Key Trends

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forward View: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new terror cycle: entries, standalone ideas, together with A stacked Calendar calibrated for Scares

Dek: The upcoming horror calendar packs early with a January wave, following that extends through summer, and running into the festive period, fusing brand heft, inventive spins, and smart release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are prioritizing lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and influencer-ready assets that transform these offerings into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has shown itself to be the steady tool in studio lineups, a corner that can break out when it catches and still mitigate the drag when it does not. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for executives that mid-range horror vehicles can drive social chatter, the following year extended the rally with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The head of steam flowed into 2025, where reboots and arthouse crossovers demonstrated there is room for varied styles, from legacy continuations to non-IP projects that resonate abroad. The net effect for 2026 is a run that is strikingly coherent across distributors, with planned clusters, a equilibrium of known properties and first-time concepts, and a refocused strategy on cinema windows that feed downstream value on paid VOD and streaming.

Buyers contend the category now functions as a swing piece on the programming map. Horror can arrive on numerous frames, provide a simple premise for trailers and reels, and punch above weight with patrons that respond on Thursday previews and maintain momentum through the second weekend if the movie pays off. Post a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 rhythm exhibits faith in that model. The year opens with a busy January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while clearing room for a October build that stretches into spooky season and afterwards. The arrangement also includes the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and home platforms that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and grow at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across connected story worlds and classic IP. Studio teams are not just releasing another sequel. They are aiming to frame lineage with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that announces a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that connects a fresh chapter to a early run. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the most anticipated originals are celebrating real-world builds, on-set effects and place-driven backdrops. That combination affords 2026 a vital pairing of assurance and novelty, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

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

Paramount marks the early tempo with two marquee moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the core, signaling it as both a passing of the torch and a origin-leaning character-first story. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach indicates a fan-service aware campaign without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Count on a promo wave driven by classic imagery, character-first teases, and a tiered teaser plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots 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 as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will double down on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt wide appeal through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever dominates the social talk that spring.

Universal has three defined strategies. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tight, grief-rooted, and commercial: a grieving man activates an machine companion that mutates into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to mirror strange in-person beats and micro spots that hybridizes devotion and foreboding.

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 public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a branding reveal to become an marketing beat closer to the debut look. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are set up as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a subsequent trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-month date gives the studio room to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has proven that a gnarly, physical-effects centered execution can feel high-value on a mid-range budget. Look for a grime-caked summer horror charge that leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio books two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, extending a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is billing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both loyalists and first-timers. The fall slot provides the studio time to build assets around world-building, and monster craft, elements that can boost large-format demand and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Get More Info Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and language, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is robust.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s genre slate shift to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a stair-step that optimizes both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video continues to mix catalogue additions with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in deep cuts, using featured rows, Halloween hubs, and programmed rows to extend momentum on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about originals and festival snaps, locking in horror entries with shorter lead times and positioning as event drops debuts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a paired of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan funnels 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 pick up select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 lane with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is tight: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, modernized for modern mix and grade. 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 positioned a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday corridor to increase reach. That positioning has delivered for auteur horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception allows. Anticipate 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 together, using select theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchise entries versus originals

By weight, 2026 bends toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on franchise value. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to sell each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a continental coloration from a fresh helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-first projects supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the configuration is grounded enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday previews.

The last three-year set illuminate the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept clean windows did not deter a day-and-date experiment from performing when the brand was robust. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror exceeded expectations in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they shift POV 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 lensed back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to tie installments through character arcs and themes and to leave creative active without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 slate forecast a continued bias toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that foregrounds creep and texture rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in feature stories and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a preview that leans on mood over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature execution and sets, which fit with expo activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel necessary. Look for trailers that center razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid larger brand plays. The month concludes 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 stiff, but the variety of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth endures.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s 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 playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited previews that favor idea over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s digital partner becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie 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: 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 severe boss push to survive on a far-flung island as the chain of command upends and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to nightmare, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting narrative that toys with the fright of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: TBA. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A parody reboot that targets of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites spreads, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: lensing 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: TBD. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new family caught in past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 primordial menace. Rating: pending. Production: building toward see here Christmas Day opening. 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 execution-level forces inform this lineup. First, production that stalled or recalendared in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. 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 methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming landings. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

There is also the slotting calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can control a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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

The breakout hunt continues in Q1, where 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 use those gaps. 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, 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 keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, aural design, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and useful reference Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shudders sell the seats.