Mythic Terror Surfaces in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling feature, debuting Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This spine-tingling supernatural scare-fest from scriptwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial terror when newcomers become victims in a fiendish trial. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping depiction of continuance and old world terror that will redefine the horror genre this spooky time. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and cinematic motion picture follows five people who suddenly rise stranded in a remote shelter under the malignant dominion of Kyra, a female presence overtaken by a prehistoric holy text monster. Prepare to be gripped by a theatrical display that harmonizes intense horror with mystical narratives, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a mainstay concept in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is reversed when the spirits no longer emerge outside the characters, but rather inside their minds. This echoes the most hidden element of every character. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the drama becomes a unforgiving struggle between light and darkness.


In a isolated landscape, five individuals find themselves stuck under the dark rule and possession of a unknown entity. As the youths becomes defenseless to escape her will, left alone and targeted by forces mind-shattering, they are compelled to wrestle with their worst nightmares while the moments coldly strikes toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion surges and bonds collapse, driving each individual to question their true nature and the idea of volition itself. The tension escalate with every minute, delivering a nightmarish journey that integrates spiritual fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dig into primal fear, an evil born of forgotten ages, working through emotional vulnerability, and navigating a will that redefines identity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra called for internalizing something unfamiliar to reason. She is innocent until the demon emerges, and that shift is bone-chilling because it is so deep.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving fans in all regions can dive into this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its intro video, which has garnered over massive response.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, offering the tale to thrill-seekers globally.


Mark your calendar for this life-altering trip into the unknown. Face *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these evil-rooted truths about free will.


For film updates, behind-the-scenes content, and alerts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across your favorite networks and visit the film’s website.





Modern horror’s decisive shift: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup interlaces archetypal-possession themes, microbudget gut-punches, set against franchise surges

Spanning last-stand terror rooted in near-Eastern lore all the way to franchise returns set beside acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned plus strategic year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio majors stabilize the year with known properties, simultaneously premium streamers pack the fall with unboxed visions set against old-world menace. On the independent axis, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the uplift from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Since Halloween is the prized date, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, though in this cycle, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are disciplined, so 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal camp starts the year with a confident swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. Booked into mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Under Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. unveils the final movement within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the tone that worked before is intact: retro dread, trauma as text, and eerie supernatural logic. This time, the stakes are raised, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Slim budgets, major punch

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

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Then there is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable starring Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, 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 chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are more runway than museum.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy IP: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

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

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, from 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.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Emerging Currents

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror reemerges
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Projection: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The new genre Year Ahead: next chapters, filmmaker-first projects, plus A packed Calendar designed for frights

Dek: The upcoming terror calendar packs right away with a January crush, before it flows through the warm months, and deep into the December corridor, marrying series momentum, original angles, and calculated counter-scheduling. Major distributors and platforms are relying on tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that turn genre releases into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has become the steady tool in studio calendars, a corner that can surge when it lands and still buffer the losses when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for decision-makers that mid-range entries can command audience talk, 2024 continued the surge with filmmaker-forward plays and surprise hits. The carry extended into 2025, where resurrections and awards-minded projects demonstrated there is space for varied styles, from returning installments to fresh IP that play globally. The upshot for 2026 is a roster that is strikingly coherent across companies, with strategic blocks, a balance of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a recommitted commitment on theatrical windows that power the aftermarket on PVOD and home platforms.

Marketers add the space now performs as a utility player on the grid. The genre can roll out on open real estate, yield a quick sell for previews and social clips, and punch above weight with patrons that come out on previews Thursday and stick through the sophomore frame if the offering hits. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence signals comfort in that approach. The slate kicks off with a stacked January run, then exploits spring through early summer for audience offsets, while clearing room for a September to October window that runs into the fright window and into post-Halloween. The gridline also includes the ongoing integration of specialty arms and platforms that can grow from platform, create conversation, and roll out at the optimal moment.

An added macro current is brand strategy across linked properties and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just pushing another chapter. They are trying to present connection with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that conveys a fresh attitude or a ensemble decision that binds a next entry to a early run. At the simultaneously, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That blend yields the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and newness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two high-profile plays that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a foundation-forward character-centered film. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach points to a roots-evoking mode without looping the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push leaning on classic imagery, first-look character reveals, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counter-slot, this one will hunt general-audience talk through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format allowing quick reframes to whatever leads genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three unique lanes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man brings home an algorithmic mate that becomes a fatal companion. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back eerie street stunts and short-form creative that threads devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a proper title to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are positioned as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to fill 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, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has proven that a in-your-face, on-set effects led execution can feel big on a mid-range budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that spotlights global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is calling a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by immersive craft and language, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is enthusiastic.

Digital platform strategies

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s releases head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ordering that expands both launch urgency and platform bumps in the after-window. Prime Video will mix library titles with global originals and limited cinema engagements when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and collection rows to stretch the tail on the annual genre haul. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, locking in horror entries on shorter runways and elevating as drops debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

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 sell is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas corridor to go wider. That positioning has served the company well for elevated genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception justifies. Expect 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 jointly, using mini theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their community.

Franchise entries versus originals

By share, 2026 leans in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit cultural cachet. The question, as ever, is audience fatigue. The standing approach is to market each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is bringing forward character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a Francophone tone from a hot helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and director-driven titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the team and cast is steady enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

The last three-year set frame the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not obstruct a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror exceeded expectations in premium formats. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, lets marketing to cross-link entries through cast and motif and to hold creative in the market without pause points.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind this year’s genre suggest a continued tilt toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores aura and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta pivot that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster work and world-building, which favor fan-con activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is busy. 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 moody palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month finishes 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 credible, but the menu this content of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Post-January through spring load in summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with brand warmth. 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 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can connect 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 PLF.

August into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited teasers that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and holiday card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human 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 rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: fog-and-fear adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss push to survive on a far-flung island as the chain of command turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: marquee survival piece 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 re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, grounded in Cronin’s practical effects and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that routes the horror through a youth’s uncertain subjective lens. Rating: forthcoming. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, this content 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that needles today’s horror trends and true-crime manias. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 surges, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a fresh family caught in residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: not yet rated. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: undetermined. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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-precise speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: building toward 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: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces drive this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-slotted in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest repeatable beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will line up across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

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

The stealth-hit search 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a array, 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 turns feral, 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, lean footprints, 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 materiality, soundcraft, and camera work 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 Is Well Positioned

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand heft where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.