Antediluvian Dread Ascends in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling shocker, landing October 2025 across global platforms

A chilling spectral shockfest from dramatist / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an timeless terror when unrelated individuals become tokens in a supernatural ritual. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful tale of perseverance and prehistoric entity that will resculpt genre cinema this spooky time. Crafted by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and moody suspense flick follows five teens who are stirred locked in a off-grid house under the sinister influence of Kyra, a haunted figure inhabited by a ancient biblical demon. Steel yourself to be seized by a big screen experience that combines visceral dread with mystical narratives, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a legendary trope in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the monsters no longer appear from a different plane, but rather inside their minds. This portrays the malevolent side of the group. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the suspense becomes a brutal clash between right and wrong.


In a desolate outland, five souls find themselves imprisoned under the sinister rule and inhabitation of a unknown female presence. As the characters becomes helpless to escape her grasp, disconnected and followed by entities unfathomable, they are pushed to face their worst nightmares while the doomsday meter harrowingly moves toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion grows and teams collapse, pressuring each cast member to contemplate their essence and the nature of personal agency itself. The threat mount with every passing moment, delivering a chilling narrative that integrates demonic fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to extract deep fear, an entity born of forgotten ages, feeding on inner turmoil, and navigating a being that tests the soul when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something outside normal anguish. She is uninformed until the haunting manifests, and that transformation is bone-chilling because it is so raw.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure customers in all regions can engage with this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first preview, which has seen over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, bringing the film to a worldwide audience.


Do not miss this cinematic journey into fear. Explore *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these ghostly lessons about mankind.


For sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and alerts from behind the lens, follow @YACFilm across platforms and visit youngandcursed.com.





Modern horror’s inflection point: the 2025 cycle U.S. lineup interlaces biblical-possession ideas, festival-born jolts, alongside franchise surges

Running from survivor-centric dread suffused with old testament echoes to legacy revivals and acutely observed indies, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted along with intentionally scheduled year in recent memory.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio powerhouses set cornerstones with established lines, at the same time digital services saturate the fall with unboxed visions set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, the artisan tier is catching the afterglow of a banner 2024 fest year. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are intentional, so 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium genre swings back

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. landing in mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Directed by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer tapers, Warner’s schedule unveils the final movement within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. While the template is known, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re teams, and the memorable motifs return: throwback unease, trauma explicitly handled, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, thickens the animatronic pantheon, bridging teens and legacy players. It opens in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Offerings: Modest spend, serious shock

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend led by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Franchise Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror reemerges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The oncoming chiller calendar year ahead: brand plays, standalone ideas, And A jammed Calendar designed for chills

Dek The fresh genre season lines up right away with a January wave, before it carries through the mid-year, and far into the winter holidays, combining franchise firepower, original angles, and well-timed release strategy. Studios and streamers are doubling down on lean spends, cinema-first plans, and short-form initiatives that pivot the slate’s entries into culture-wide discussion.

How the genre looks for 2026

The genre has become the sturdy option in release plans, a genre that can lift when it lands and still limit the losses when it fails to connect. After 2023 demonstrated to studio brass that modestly budgeted chillers can own mainstream conversation, 2024 extended the rally with director-led heat and word-of-mouth wins. The energy flowed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings demonstrated there is space for varied styles, from legacy continuations to original one-offs that travel well. The result for 2026 is a calendar that reads highly synchronized across the industry, with strategic blocks, a combination of household franchises and new packages, and a re-energized commitment on box-office windows that power the aftermarket on premium home window and subscription services.

Buyers contend the space now behaves like a flex slot on the calendar. Horror can open on numerous frames, supply a clean hook for creative and short-form placements, and outstrip with crowds that appear on advance nights and stay strong through the week two if the title delivers. After a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout indicates comfort in that playbook. The year starts with a weighty January band, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while leaving room for a fall corridor that runs into holiday-adjacent weekends and into post-Halloween. The map also includes the deeper integration of indie arms and SVOD players that can platform and widen, grow buzz, and grow at the proper time.

A reinforcing pattern is brand curation across unified worlds and legacy IP. Big banners are not just greenlighting another next film. They are seeking to position continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that flags a refreshed voice or a casting move that anchors a new entry to a first wave. At the simultaneously, the creative leads behind the high-profile originals are embracing physical effects work, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a solid mix of known notes and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the heart, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a rootsy character-first story. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the tonal posture signals a classic-referencing strategy without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive anchored in signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a tiered teaser plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will pursue mainstream recognition through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick adjustments to whatever leads the discourse that spring.

Universal has three clear projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tidy, heartbroken, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man installs an intelligent companion that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date places it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the marketing arm likely to iterate on odd see here public stunts and short-form creative that melds attachment and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a official title to become an earned moment closer to the first trailer. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s releases are treated as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that holds back and a second trailer wave that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-October frame gives Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, on-set effects led strategy can feel deluxe on a middle budget. Position this as a hard-R summer horror charge that leans hard into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, extending a evergreen supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is billing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both players and fresh viewers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around mythos, and creature design, elements that can boost format premiums and fan-forward engagement.

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 builds on Eggers’ run of period horror defined by historical precision and archaic language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s slate move to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both week-one demand and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video blends licensed films with global originals and short theatrical plays when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in deep cuts, using well-timed internal promotions, October hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix keeps optionality about first-party entries and festival snaps, locking in horror entries tight to release and framing as events rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown appetite to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or marquee packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is no-nonsense: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, upgraded for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday frame to broaden. That positioning has delivered for craft-driven horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception merits. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using limited theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By number, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use brand equity. The challenge, as ever, is overexposure. The near-term solution is to package each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the deal build is comforting enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps clarify the approach. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept streaming intact did not stop a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror popped in premium large format. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel new when they reframe POV and raise the stakes. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to connect the chapters through relationships and themes and to hold creative in the market without long gaps.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft conversations behind the 2026 entries suggest a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that elevates aura and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta inflection that centers its original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature work and production design, which are ideal for con floor moments and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the tonal variety makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads 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 spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to 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 Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a late-September window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum 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 on a rolling basis as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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

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 face a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss try to survive on a lonely island as the chain of command turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to chill, founded on Cronin’s hands-on craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting setup that manipulates the chill of a child’s unreliable senses. Rating: pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-supported and marquee-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that needles present-day genre chatter and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled 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 ignites, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new household bound to long-buried horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A clean reboot designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over action fireworks. Rating: forthcoming. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: closely held. Rating: to be announced. Production: ongoing. 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-specific language and primordial menace. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why this year, why now

Three execution-level forces organize this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on shareable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will compete across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

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

The search for sleepers continues in Q1, where 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a cold, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, right-sized allotments, 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 visual texture, acoustics, 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand power where it counts, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, guard the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.