Primordial Dread returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across top digital platforms

One haunting unearthly scare-fest from dramatist / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an primordial terror when newcomers become pawns in a supernatural contest. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing chronicle of perseverance and old world terror that will transform the horror genre this autumn. Brought to life by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and tone-heavy suspense flick follows five unacquainted souls who arise imprisoned in a far-off hideaway under the menacing power of Kyra, a female presence possessed by a prehistoric biblical demon. Prepare to be captivated by a screen-based presentation that intertwines raw fear with biblical origins, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a historical pillar in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reversed when the presences no longer originate from external sources, but rather from deep inside. This suggests the malevolent corner of all involved. The result is a bone-chilling mental war where the story becomes a constant clash between moral forces.


In a unforgiving outland, five adults find themselves imprisoned under the evil aura and haunting of a unidentified person. As the cast becomes unresisting to evade her control, left alone and tracked by entities beyond reason, they are thrust to endure their deepest fears while the final hour mercilessly edges forward toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear escalates and teams erode, pressuring each soul to evaluate their being and the principle of personal agency itself. The stakes surge with every short lapse, delivering a nightmarish journey that marries ghostly evil with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to awaken primitive panic, an darkness before modern man, feeding on our weaknesses, and examining a darkness that strips down our being when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra called for internalizing something rooted in terror. She is unseeing until the haunting manifests, and that flip is eerie because it is so deep.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—making sure viewers anywhere can witness this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its original promo, which has received over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, bringing the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Be sure to catch this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Join *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to acknowledge these spiritual awakenings about our species.


For featurettes, filmmaker commentary, and updates from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across entertainment pages and visit our horror hub.





Today’s horror inflection point: the 2025 cycle U.S. lineup melds legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, paired with brand-name tremors

Kicking off with life-or-death fear steeped in near-Eastern lore and stretching into series comebacks paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is lining up as the most dimensioned plus strategic year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios set cornerstones with established lines, while platform operators stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs as well as legend-coded dread. In parallel, the independent cohort is catching the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, yet in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are surgical, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: The Return of Prestige Fear

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

Universal’s schedule leads off the quarter with a marquee bet: a reimagined Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. From director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. timed for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. delivers the closing chapter from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma as theme, and eerie supernatural logic. This time the stakes climb, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable starring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and helmed 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 an astute call. No swollen lore. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy IP: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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

Key Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror swings back
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

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

Big screen is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

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. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next fear calendar year ahead: Sequels, new stories, paired with A loaded Calendar calibrated for Scares

Dek The emerging horror year crowds from day one with a January logjam, then rolls through summer, and well into the late-year period, balancing series momentum, creative pitches, and well-timed calendar placement. The major players are committing to responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-driven marketing that shape genre releases into national conversation.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror marketplace has emerged as the surest counterweight in programming grids, a genre that can scale when it resonates and still mitigate the losses when it falls short. After 2023 reminded decision-makers that mid-range fright engines can steer mainstream conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The upswing rolled into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and festival-grade titles underscored there is an opening for varied styles, from series extensions to non-IP projects that travel well. The result for 2026 is a grid that is strikingly coherent across the major shops, with purposeful groupings, a mix of legacy names and new pitches, and a recommitted priority on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium rental and subscription services.

Schedulers say the category now performs as a fill-in ace on the schedule. The genre can launch on virtually any date, provide a clear pitch for trailers and vertical videos, and exceed norms with crowds that show up on early shows and hold through the second frame if the movie works. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 plan signals confidence in that engine. The calendar gets underway with a stacked January window, then plants flags in spring and early summer for balance, while reserving space for a October build that pushes into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The gridline also includes the deeper integration of indie distributors and platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and roll out at the strategic time.

An added macro current is brand strategy across ongoing universes and legacy franchises. The studios are not just pushing another entry. They are looking to package ongoing narrative with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that indicates a new vibe or a casting choice that reconnects a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the writer-directors behind the most watched originals are leaning into tactile craft, makeup and prosthetics and specific settings. That mix produces 2026 a lively combination of known notes and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two headline titles that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character-forward chapter. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach telegraphs a nostalgia-forward mode without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Expect a marketing push driven by iconic art, early character teases, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a counterweight in summer, this one will go after large awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick redirects to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate pushes. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is crisp, heartbroken, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an synthetic partner that shifts into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s team likely to mirror creepy live activations and micro spots that mixes intimacy and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an event moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. The filmmaker’s films are marketed as filmmaker events, with a minimalist tease and a later trailer push that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel premium on a middle budget. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror shock that pushes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio lines up two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is selling as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around lore, and creature effects, elements that can increase deluxe auditorium demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on immersive craft and get redirected here textual fidelity, this time engaging werewolf myth. The label has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s horror titles feed copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a cadence that enhances both first-week urgency and subscription bumps in the tail. Prime Video stitches together licensed films with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library pulls, using well-timed internal promotions, horror hubs, and curated strips to stretch the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival snaps, dating horror entries near their drops and making event-like go-lives with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a one-two of focused cinema runs and fast windowing that turns chatter to conversion. That will be meaningful 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+ keeps selective horror on a situational basis. The platform has indicated interest to buy select projects with prestige directors or marquee packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building 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 clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, upgraded 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 indicated a theatrical rollout for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to scale. That positioning has worked well for arthouse horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception supports. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using mini theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their audience.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit household recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is viewer burnout. The preferred tactic is to pitch each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French sensibility from a buzzed-about director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is steady enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years clarify the model. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not preclude a simultaneous release test from winning when the brand was trusted. In 2024, auteur craft horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters filmed in sequence, creates space for marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to hold creative in the market without lulls.

Production craft signals

The director conversations behind this year’s genre forecast a continued lean toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its Young & Cursed April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that emphasizes mood and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft profiles and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a self-aware reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature execution and sets, which are ideal for fan-con activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel must-have. Look for trailers that accent fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that work in PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Late winter and spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. 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 run their PLF course.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event occupies October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that trade in concept over detail.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card use.

Project briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s synthetic partner grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an navigate here 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: atmospheric game 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 battle to survive on a remote island as the chain of command flips and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to nightmare, grounded in Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that toys with the fear of a child’s mercurial interpretations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-scale and star-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 comic send-up that needles hot-button genre motifs and true crime fascinations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family snared by older hauntings. Rating: undetermined. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A new start designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-core horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 primal menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces inform this lineup. First, production that decelerated or migrated in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine meme-ready beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where midrange-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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is franchise muscle where it helps, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for 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-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shudders sell the seats.