Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a nerve shredding chiller, streaming October 2025 across leading streamers

An haunting occult shockfest from narrative craftsman / director Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an forgotten evil when passersby become vehicles in a malevolent conflict. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing episode of living through and mythic evil that will revamp horror this spooky time. Directed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and moody feature follows five characters who regain consciousness confined in a secluded house under the unfriendly dominion of Kyra, a mysterious girl controlled by a 2,000-year-old religious nightmare. Prepare to be seized by a theatrical journey that intertwines deep-seated panic with folklore, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a long-standing motif in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is redefined when the demons no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather from their core. This mirrors the haunting version of each of them. The result is a intense cognitive warzone where the narrative becomes a soul-crushing confrontation between good and evil.


In a desolate wild, five characters find themselves contained under the fiendish aura and haunting of a unknown apparition. As the youths becomes vulnerable to fight her control, left alone and tracked by beings inconceivable, they are compelled to confront their deepest fears while the deathwatch harrowingly draws closer toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust deepens and friendships disintegrate, forcing each survivor to examine their essence and the idea of autonomy itself. The pressure intensify with every instant, delivering a scare-fueled ride that connects spiritual fright with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to uncover primal fear, an malevolence born of forgotten ages, emerging via fragile psyche, and questioning a presence that strips down our being when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was about accessing something past sanity. She is uninformed until the evil takes hold, and that metamorphosis is haunting because it is so personal.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for home viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering viewers globally can be part of this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its initial teaser, which has collected over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, making the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Witness this soul-jarring trip into the unknown. Experience *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to see these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For bonus footage, making-of footage, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across entertainment pages and visit our film’s homepage.





Modern horror’s watershed moment: 2025 U.S. rollouts interlaces primeval-possession lore, festival-born jolts, and legacy-brand quakes

Moving from pressure-cooker survival tales saturated with near-Eastern lore as well as brand-name continuations set beside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is shaping up as the richest in tandem with deliberate year in recent memory.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year via recognizable brands, even as digital services load up the fall with emerging auteurs as well as archetypal fear. Meanwhile, horror’s indie wing is fueled by the echoes from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, but this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are methodical, so 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium genre swings back

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm leads off the quarter with a statement play: a modernized Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in a modern-day environment. Led by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. From director Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Granted the structure is classic, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma centered writing, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Plays: Tight funds, wide impact

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Steered by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered 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 the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

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 ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No legacy baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. 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 one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, from Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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

Signals and Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror reemerges
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

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

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The upcoming chiller release year: installments, filmmaker-first projects, And A Crowded Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The current genre year builds from day one with a January glut, following that spreads through summer, and pushing into the December corridor, marrying franchise firepower, new voices, and well-timed alternatives. Studios and streamers are relying on cost discipline, box-office-first windows, and viral-minded pushes that frame the slate’s entries into water-cooler talk.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The field has become the consistent move in release plans, a vertical that can grow when it connects and still hedge the floor when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year proved to top brass that disciplined-budget horror vehicles can command cultural conversation, the following year maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and unexpected risers. The run rolled into the 2025 frame, where revivals and elevated films demonstrated there is capacity for a variety of tones, from brand follow-ups to original one-offs that play globally. The takeaway for 2026 is a programming that looks unusually coordinated across the field, with strategic blocks, a harmony of known properties and fresh ideas, and a sharpened eye on exclusive windows that feed downstream value on premium home window and platforms.

Distribution heads claim the space now operates like a wildcard on the schedule. Horror can kick off on almost any weekend, supply a quick sell for spots and platform-native cuts, and lead with moviegoers that line up on previews Thursday and maintain momentum through the second frame if the picture connects. Exiting a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 pattern signals confidence in that dynamic. The slate launches with a weighty January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while leaving room for a fall cadence that flows toward spooky season and into early November. The arrangement also highlights the deeper integration of specialty distributors and home platforms that can build gradually, grow buzz, and go nationwide at the timely point.

A notable top-line trend is franchise tending across shared universes and legacy franchises. Big banners are not just greenlighting another return. They are seeking to position continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title presentation that announces a tonal shift or a talent selection that reconnects a upcoming film to a early run. At the in tandem, the auteurs behind the most anticipated originals are favoring on-set craft, special makeup and concrete locations. That pairing gives the 2026 slate a strong blend of trust and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount leads early with two marquee projects that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the heart, steering it as both a cross-generational handoff and a foundation-forward character-first story. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance indicates a throwback-friendly angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Watch for a push built on heritage visuals, character-first teases, and a two-beat trailer plan landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will play up. As a summer contrast play, this one will hunt wide buzz through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three unique entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and big-hook: a grieving man activates an digital partner that mutates into a lethal partner. The date locates it at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s marketing likely to renew creepy live activations and snackable content that threads intimacy and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are marketed as marquee events, with a teaser that holds back and a second beat that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The prime October weekend gives the studio room to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns 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 shown that a raw, on-set effects led style can feel big on a moderate cost. Frame it as a hard-R summer horror rush that centers offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio rolls out two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a proven supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is presenting as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both players and first-timers. The fall slot lets Sony to build assets around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can drive PLF interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by immersive craft and historical speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is warm.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal titles transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a structure that boosts both premiere heat and sign-up spikes in the later window. Prime Video stitches together third-party pickups with world buys and limited cinema engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library engagement, using timely promos, fright rows, and editorial rows to prolong the run on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about original films and festival pickups, finalizing horror entries with shorter lead times and coalescing around releases with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a paired of precision releases and quick platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a per-project basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation surges.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is clean: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to increase reach. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception warrants. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their community.

IP versus fresh ideas

By tilt, the 2026 slate leans toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage household recognition. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is foregrounding character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a continental coloration from a fresh helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the team and cast is recognizable enough to build pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns frame the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that maintained windows did not obstruct a day-date move from thriving when the brand was powerful. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror over-performed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they angle differently and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, creates space for marketing to thread films through protagonists and motifs and to keep materials circulating without long gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The production chatter behind the year’s horror signal a continued move toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that underscores unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft coverage before rolling out a first look that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and sparks click to read more shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature execution and sets, which work nicely for expo activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that underscore hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid marquee brands. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring build the summer base. Scream 7 lands February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

End of summer through fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a transitional slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited previews that center concept over reveals.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can win the holiday when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card use.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s virtual companion grows into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 isolated island as the control dynamic turns and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

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 renewed take that returns the monster to dread, rooted in Cronin’s in-camera craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting premise that toys with the unease of a child’s mercurial read. Rating: forthcoming. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A satirical comeback that skewers today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBD. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites erupts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a new family lashed to returning horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing. 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 period-precise speech and elemental menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces shape this lineup. First, production that paused or re-sequenced in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate social-ready stingers from test screenings, carefully timed this contact form scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

There is also the slotting calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will trade weekends across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 sleeper-hit hunt 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundcraft, 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.

A Promising 2026

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand equity where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.