Antediluvian Terror awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding chiller, rolling out October 2025 on global platforms

An hair-raising spiritual suspense story from storyteller / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an age-old fear when newcomers become instruments in a cursed trial. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of overcoming and prehistoric entity that will redefine genre cinema this harvest season. Brought to life by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and moody motion picture follows five characters who find themselves stranded in a remote cabin under the aggressive power of Kyra, a haunted figure controlled by a timeless sacred-era entity. Steel yourself to be shaken by a screen-based spectacle that unites gut-punch terror with ancestral stories, hitting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a mainstay concept in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is subverted when the malevolences no longer originate from an outside force, but rather through their own souls. This embodies the shadowy corner of every character. The result is a edge-of-seat internal warfare where the emotions becomes a perpetual contest between good and evil.


In a unforgiving forest, five teens find themselves cornered under the evil sway and control of a shadowy figure. As the companions becomes helpless to combat her manipulation, stranded and followed by evils impossible to understand, they are forced to endure their worst nightmares while the timeline unceasingly moves toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread rises and connections implode, driving each protagonist to examine their essence and the idea of volition itself. The cost climb with every tick, delivering a chilling narrative that harmonizes ghostly evil with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to tap into basic terror, an malevolence beyond recorded history, manifesting in our fears, and challenging a curse that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is uninformed until the curse activates, and that pivot is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring viewers globally can experience this unholy film.


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 evolution to its release of trailer #1, which has collected over massive response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, spreading the horror to fans of fear everywhere.


Tune in for this gripping path of possession. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to uncover these ghostly lessons about the mind.


For sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, and updates from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursed across entertainment pages and visit the movie’s homepage.





Horror’s major pivot: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate weaves legend-infused possession, independent shockers, alongside IP aftershocks

Kicking off with grit-forward survival fare saturated with old testament echoes as well as installment follow-ups as well as focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned paired with deliberate year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio powerhouses bookend the months with known properties, at the same time OTT services stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, the artisan tier is buoyed by the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A fat September–October lane is customary now, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, therefore 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal banner begins the calendar with a statement play: a reimagined Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. From director Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner Bros. banner sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson returns, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: vintage toned fear, trauma in the foreground, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It hits in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable led by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. 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. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No series drag. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, steered 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.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror swings back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming fear release year: next chapters, fresh concepts, And A loaded Calendar engineered for shocks

Dek The arriving horror calendar builds early with a January logjam, following that rolls through summer, and straight through the holiday frame, marrying brand equity, inventive spins, and strategic counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are relying on efficient budgets, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that convert genre titles into mainstream chatter.

How the genre looks for 2026

Horror has grown into the sturdy release in studio lineups, a pillar that can surge when it connects and still mitigate the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 reminded top brass that efficiently budgeted fright engines can steer the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with visionary-driven titles and sleeper breakouts. The energy flowed into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles confirmed there is capacity for many shades, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the market, with obvious clusters, a harmony of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a renewed attention on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital and streaming.

Executives say the space now performs as a fill-in ace on the rollout map. Horror can launch on nearly any frame, yield a sharp concept for marketing and shorts, and overperform with audiences that lean in on opening previews and hold through the sophomore frame if the release delivers. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup telegraphs certainty in that approach. The calendar rolls out with a stacked January stretch, then taps spring and early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a September to October window that stretches into All Hallows period and beyond. The gridline also underscores the deeper integration of indie distributors and SVOD players that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and broaden at the precise moment.

An added macro current is brand management across unified worlds and established properties. Big banners are not just rolling another next film. They are shaping as lore continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a reframed mood or a star attachment that bridges a next film to a foundational era. At the simultaneously, the writer-directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring hands-on technique, practical effects and vivid settings. That mix gives 2026 a smart balance of home base and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate projects that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, marketing it as both a baton pass and a classic-mode character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the story approach announces a heritage-honoring approach without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push leaning on classic imagery, first-look character reveals, and a tiered teaser plan targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will lean on. As a summer relief option, this one will build mainstream recognition through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick reframes to whatever drives trend lines that spring.

Universal has three unique entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an AI companion that shifts into a killer companion. The date places it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to iterate on strange in-person beats and short reels that threads love and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots 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 listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s work are positioned as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy style can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that maximizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is describing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both core fans and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build artifacts around canon, and creature effects, elements that can stoke PLF interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror driven by immersive craft and language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus’s team has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is glowing.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s releases flow to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a cadence that boosts both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video continues to mix outside acquisitions with global pickups and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using prominent placements, holiday hubs, and featured rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries near their drops and eventizing rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of focused cinema runs and accelerated platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to acquire select projects with top-tier auteurs or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly engagement when the genre conversation peaks.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 pipeline with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is simple: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, updated for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, piloting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday frame to broaden. That positioning has delivered for elevated genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception prompts. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using targeted theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate leans toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The trade-off, as ever, is diminishing returns. The workable fix is to pitch each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is foregrounding core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French sensibility from a hot helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add 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, puts Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the configuration is known enough to generate pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns clarify the method. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that maintained windows did not block a parallel release from succeeding when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror rose in premium large format. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and increase ambition. 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 two-film strategy, with chapters produced back-to-back, allows marketing to cross-link entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries signal a continued turn toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has succeeded 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 audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which favor booth activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel compelling. Look for trailers that emphasize precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that sing on PLF.

Month-by-month map

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. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid marquee brands. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the mix of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls 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 light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can win the holiday when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card spend.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s genome. 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 loss-struck man’s machine mate escalates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: ambience-forward adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss struggle to survive on a rugged island as the hierarchy upends and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s material craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting story that toys with the dread of a child’s uncertain POV. Rating: TBD. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that riffs on today’s horror trends and true crime fixations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new household tethered to lingering terrors. Rating: pending. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-driven horror over action fireworks. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three practical forces shape this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and accelerated 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 surpassed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where lower and mid-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 quiet 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns 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 chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, sonics, and visual design 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 Source into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is franchise muscle where it helps, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, protect the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.