Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes antediluvian malevolence, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on top streamers

One terrifying metaphysical shockfest from creator / director Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an archaic fear when unrelated individuals become puppets in a diabolical ritual. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish journey of resistance and ancient evil that will alter genre cinema this harvest season. Brought to life by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and moody film follows five characters who emerge locked in a hidden lodge under the malevolent will of Kyra, a tormented girl dominated by a biblical-era sacrosanct terror. Ready yourself to be drawn in by a audio-visual ride that intertwines raw fear with folklore, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a iconic concept in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is turned on its head when the entities no longer descend outside the characters, but rather deep within. This suggests the most hidden dimension of each of them. The result is a emotionally raw spiritual tug-of-war where the plotline becomes a constant tug-of-war between divinity and wickedness.


In a abandoned outland, five teens find themselves marooned under the malevolent rule and possession of a enigmatic person. As the victims becomes incapable to withstand her rule, cut off and stalked by creatures mind-shattering, they are made to confront their darkest emotions while the doomsday meter without pity strikes toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust amplifies and relationships collapse, forcing each protagonist to scrutinize their personhood and the principle of volition itself. The hazard grow with every tick, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses unearthly horror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to draw upon instinctual horror, an evil that predates humanity, embedding itself in mental cracks, and navigating a force that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra involved tapping into something darker than pain. She is innocent until the takeover begins, and that shift is haunting because it is so internal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for horror fans beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—delivering streamers worldwide can witness this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its initial teaser, which has garnered over massive response.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Join this gripping path of possession. Face *Young & Cursed* this launch day to survive these terrifying truths about inner darkness.


For bonus footage, special features, and promotions via the production team, follow @YACMovie across entertainment pages and visit the official website.





Horror’s pivotal crossroads: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup integrates legend-infused possession, underground frights, set against series shake-ups

Beginning with life-or-death fear steeped in scriptural legend through to franchise returns paired with incisive indie visions, 2025 is tracking to be the richest together with precision-timed year of the last decade.

Call it full, but it is also focused. the big studios lay down anchors with franchise anchors, simultaneously SVOD players pack the fall with debut heat together with archetypal fear. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is catching the backdraft from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are intentional, so 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s distribution arm opens the year with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, inside today’s landscape. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

After that, The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re engages, and those signature textures resurface: nostalgic menace, trauma centered writing, along with eerie supernatural rules. The ante is higher this round, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It posts in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Plays: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a room scale body horror descent fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is a clever angle. No overweight mythology. 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 remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

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

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trend Lines

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The next Horror calendar year ahead: returning titles, new stories, And A packed Calendar Built For chills

Dek: The current terror cycle loads early with a January traffic jam, following that carries through peak season, and running into the winter holidays, blending legacy muscle, new concepts, and calculated counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are embracing efficient budgets, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that elevate genre titles into cross-demo moments.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The field has proven to be the surest counterweight in distribution calendars, a vertical that can lift when it resonates and still buffer the exposure when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that lean-budget fright engines can drive mainstream conversation, the following year kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The carry translated to the 2025 frame, where revivals and critical darlings signaled there is capacity for a spectrum, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that travel well. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a schedule that appears tightly organized across the field, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of recognizable IP and new concepts, and a tightened eye on exclusive windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium on-demand and digital services.

Distribution heads claim the space now serves as a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can roll out on a wide range of weekends, supply a simple premise for marketing and platform-native cuts, and outpace with viewers that appear on previews Thursday and maintain momentum through the second frame if the release hits. Following a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan signals faith in that equation. The slate begins with a busy January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a late-year stretch that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The layout also reflects the greater integration of boutique distributors and streamers that can launch in limited release, spark evangelism, and scale up at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across shared IP webs and classic IP. Studios are not just mounting another return. They are working to present story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that flags a new vibe or a casting choice that threads a next film to a first wave. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating hands-on technique, physical gags and location-forward worlds. That combination provides 2026 a smart balance of known notes and shock, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two big-ticket pushes that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, positioning the film as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character-focused installment. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach points to a throwback-friendly mode without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Plan for a rollout centered on iconic art, intro reveals, and a promo sequence landing toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will chase wide appeal through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format fitting quick redirects to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal useful reference has three unique entries. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an machine companion that mutates into a killer companion. The date nudges it to the front of a busy month, with the marketing arm likely to revisit uncanny-valley stunts and bite-size content that melds longing and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His entries are branded as creative events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway lets the studio to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has demonstrated that a in-your-face, in-camera leaning treatment can feel high-value on a lean spend. Look for a blood-and-grime summer horror hit that pushes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio places two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is marketing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both devotees and newcomers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign creative around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can lift premium format interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 centered on minute detail and period speech, this time circling werewolf lore. Focus Features has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

Platform lanes and windowing

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s horror titles land on copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a cadence that expands both week-one demand and trial spikes in the downstream. Prime Video pairs licensed titles with international acquisitions and limited cinema engagements when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their edges in deep cuts, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and staff picks to keep attention on lifetime take. Netflix retains agility about Netflix films and festival pickups, slotting horror entries near their drops and framing as events arrivals with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a staged of limited theatrical footprints and accelerated platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has signaled readiness to acquire select projects with prestige directors or headline-cast packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for retention when the genre conversation builds.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 corridor with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is uncomplicated: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, recalibrated for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas window to move out. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By weight, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is brand erosion. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is emphasizing character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-tinted vision from a buzzed-about director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add 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, puts Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the deal build is grounded enough to generate pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Comps from the last three years illuminate the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that kept streaming intact did not hamper a day-date try from performing when the brand was potent. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in premium formats. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they alter lens and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds imp source 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 consecutively, permits marketing to connect the chapters through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without dead zones.

How the films are being made

The filmmaking conversations behind 2026 horror hint at a continued emphasis on real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that elevates mood and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for textured sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft coverage before rolling out a first look that leans on mood over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past Source releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for red-band excess, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and drives shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which work nicely for con floor moments and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel necessary. Look for trailers that accent fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

The schedule at a glance

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month wraps 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 formidable, but the mix of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Early-year through spring seed summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-first teaser plan and limited previews that trade in concept over detail.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card redemption.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s artificial companion unfolds into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms 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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the control balance swivels and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 TBA in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s material craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 family-home haunting premise that routes the horror through a youngster’s wavering personal vantage. Rating: TBA. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-supported and headline-actor led spirit-world suspense.

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 parody reboot that pokes at contemporary horror memes and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. 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 erupts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new household bound to residual nightmares. Rating: undetermined. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward classic survival-horror tone over action-centric bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 elemental fear. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces organize this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest turnkey scare beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, freeing space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will trade weekends across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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

The underdog chase continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, 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 compound over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sonics, and cinematography 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 evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, produce clean trailers, protect the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.