Age-old Terror rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, bowing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

This terrifying occult fright fest from literary architect / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an long-buried force when passersby become victims in a diabolical ceremony. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching portrayal of overcoming and archaic horror that will transform the fear genre this scare season. Realized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and shadowy screenplay follows five characters who are stirred isolated in a unreachable hideaway under the malevolent manipulation of Kyra, a troubled woman inhabited by a biblical-era sacrosanct terror. Ready yourself to be ensnared by a theatrical presentation that fuses gut-punch terror with mystical narratives, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic fixture in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is subverted when the forces no longer manifest beyond the self, but rather inside them. This symbolizes the shadowy facet of the victims. The result is a psychologically brutal mental war where the intensity becomes a brutal clash between right and wrong.


In a bleak woodland, five young people find themselves isolated under the unholy effect and possession of a elusive person. As the ensemble becomes vulnerable to escape her dominion, abandoned and hunted by spirits mind-shattering, they are pushed to encounter their worst nightmares while the countdown brutally ticks toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread builds and bonds shatter, pushing each survivor to question their core and the principle of decision-making itself. The pressure escalate with every instant, delivering a terror ride that blends unearthly horror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to extract elemental fright, an curse beyond time, channeling itself through inner turmoil, and dealing with a darkness that erodes the self when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra demanded embodying something past sanity. She is ignorant until the spirit seizes her, and that transformation is shocking because it is so deep.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing users internationally can face this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first trailer, which has garnered over 100,000 views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Join this unforgettable exploration of dread. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to explore these fearful discoveries about the soul.


For exclusive trailers, special features, and insider scoops from those who lived it, follow @YACMovie across media channels and visit youngandcursed.com.





U.S. horror’s major pivot: 2025 across markets U.S. calendar melds primeval-possession lore, signature indie scares, and brand-name tremors

Running from last-stand terror grounded in biblical myth and onward to brand-name continuations paired with surgical indie voices, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured and tactically planned year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. major banners bookend the months with franchise anchors, at the same time digital services pack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs as well as scriptural shivers. At the same time, festival-forward creators is propelled by the echoes from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, notably this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium dread reemerges

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s pipeline starts the year with a confident swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in a clear present-tense world. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Booked into 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 port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early reactions hint at fangs.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s pipeline drops the final chapter from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. While the template is known, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the tone that worked before is intact: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

SVOD Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a room scale body horror descent led by 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 reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a clever angle. No overweight mythology. No canon weight. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If packaged well, it could track like 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.

Signals and Trends

Old myth goes broad
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The next spook cycle: entries, universe starters, alongside A stacked Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek: The new scare year lines up at the outset with a January wave, subsequently rolls through midyear, and carrying into the winter holidays, mixing marquee clout, fresh ideas, and well-timed counter-scheduling. The big buyers and platforms are doubling down on mid-range economics, big-screen-first runs, and short-form initiatives that shape these pictures into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The genre has proven to be the dependable option in release strategies, a category that can break out when it hits and still hedge the floor when it underperforms. After the 2023 year reassured buyers that cost-conscious pictures can dominate the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The upswing moved into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and filmmaker-prestige bets highlighted there is appetite for a variety of tones, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The takeaway for 2026 is a run that presents tight coordination across distributors, with clear date clusters, a combination of recognizable IP and new concepts, and a reinvigorated priority on theater exclusivity that increase tail monetization on premium digital rental and SVOD.

Distribution heads claim the space now performs as a versatile piece on the schedule. The genre can open on nearly any frame, supply a clear pitch for promo reels and social clips, and lead with viewers that lean in on previews Thursday and sustain through the second frame if the offering lands. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration shows faith in that setup. The year launches with a heavy January schedule, then primes spring and early summer for contrast, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that flows toward Halloween and into early November. The gridline also spotlights the stronger partnership of specialized labels and SVOD players that can build gradually, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the proper time.

An added macro current is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. Studio teams are not just mounting another entry. They are looking to package story carry-over with a premium feel, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a casting pivot that reconnects a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the same time, the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into real-world builds, on-set effects and specific settings. That mix produces 2026 a solid mix of trust and freshness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate titles that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the core, setting it up as both a relay and a heritage-centered character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a nostalgia-forward framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push driven by heritage visuals, character previews, and a tiered teaser plan targeting 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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will seek wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three discrete entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an intelligent companion that evolves into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to renew uncanny live moments and short reels that hybridizes love and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title drop to become an marketing beat closer to the initial tease. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as signature events, with a teaser that holds back and a later trailer push that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a visceral, practical-first mix can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that maximizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, keeping a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is presenting as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both longtime followers and fresh viewers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign creative around narrative world, and creature design, elements that can lift format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror defined by meticulous craft and linguistic texture, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus’s team has already locked the day for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if see here early reception is glowing.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform windowing in 2026 run on proven patterns. The studio’s horror films head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that maximizes both FOMO and trial spikes in the back half. Prime Video interleaves library titles with global originals and limited runs in theaters when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in archive usage, using featured rows, holiday hubs, and featured rows to maximize the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival pickups, dating horror entries on shorter runways and elevating as drops premieres with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a two-step of precision theatrical plays and fast windowing that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown a willingness to secure select projects with name filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls 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 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is no-nonsense: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, modernized for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a cinema-first plan for the title, an promising marker for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas corridor to widen. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-driven genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception supports. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using small theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchises versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate franchise value. The question, as ever, is audience fatigue. The go-to fix is to sell each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is spotlighting core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep the lungs full. 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, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the bundle is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set help explain the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that respected streaming windows did not prevent a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they shift POV and raise the stakes. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, permits marketing to interlace chapters through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the 2026 entries suggest a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf great post to read as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft features before rolling out a first look that keeps plot minimal, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-aware reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel compelling. Look for trailers that highlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that land in big rooms.

How the year maps out

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

Late winter and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds 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 spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late-season stretch leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that elevate concept over story.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s algorithmic partner grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 abrasive boss push to survive on a desolate island as the power balance upends and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to fright, rooted in Cronin’s hands-on craft and slow-bloom 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 tale that leverages the unease of a child’s uncertain interpretations. Rating: TBD. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody return that satirizes modern genre fads and true crime fervors. Rating: undetermined. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a fresh family caught in past horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

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: in progress. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and bone-deep menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a big-screen run before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or rearranged in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter timelines. 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming releases. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate clippable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can control a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will jostle 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.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The search for sleepers 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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit 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 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 compound over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, aural design, and picture 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand equity where it matters, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, hold the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.