Ancient Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

This haunting unearthly nightmare movie from writer / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primordial terror when drifters become puppets in a demonic trial. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of continuance and timeless dread that will redefine terror storytelling this ghoul season. Visualized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and claustrophobic cinema piece follows five people who snap to caught in a far-off structure under the menacing influence of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a biblical-era biblical force. Be prepared to be immersed by a motion picture adventure that merges raw fear with ancient myths, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a enduring motif in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is subverted when the beings no longer appear from an outside force, but rather inside them. This represents the haunting shade of the protagonists. The result is a intense mental war where the suspense becomes a perpetual face-off between good and evil.


In a barren natural abyss, five young people find themselves caught under the unholy sway and spiritual invasion of a unknown entity. As the team becomes unable to combat her grasp, isolated and hunted by unknowns beyond comprehension, they are forced to acknowledge their core terrors while the hours ruthlessly ticks toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread swells and alliances dissolve, forcing each individual to rethink their being and the idea of conscious will itself. The threat mount with every fleeting time, delivering a horror experience that weaves together otherworldly suspense with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to extract pure dread, an curse that existed before mankind, emerging via emotional fractures, and questioning a being that strips down our being when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is ignorant until the haunting manifests, and that conversion is harrowing because it is so visceral.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing households internationally can enjoy this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original clip, which has received over 100K plays.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, exporting the fear to horror fans worldwide.


Join this gripping fall into madness. Face *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to survive these ghostly lessons about the mind.


For previews, making-of footage, and social posts from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our spooky domain.





U.S. horror’s decisive shift: the year 2025 U.S. lineup weaves primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, together with franchise surges

From endurance-driven terror saturated with primordial scripture all the way to returning series together with pointed art-house angles, 2025 appears poised to be the genre’s most multifaceted and blueprinted year in recent memory.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. leading studios hold down the year with known properties, simultaneously streamers saturate the fall with new perspectives as well as old-world menace. Across the art-house lane, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. A fat September–October lane is customary now, but this year, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, as a result 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

Universal’s pipeline lights the fuse with a bold swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Guided by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. Pictures bows the concluding entry of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. This run ups the stakes, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, broadens the animatronic terror cast, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It drops in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a sealed box body horror arc pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale featuring Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, 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 menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No sequel clutter. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, with Francis Lawrence directing, 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.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic lanes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Badges become bargaining chips
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 scare calendar year ahead: follow-ups, new stories, plus A Crowded Calendar Built For screams

Dek: The new scare year builds at the outset with a January traffic jam, then flows through June and July, and well into the holiday stretch, balancing franchise firepower, untold stories, and savvy release strategy. The major players are focusing on smart costs, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that turn genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror marketplace has become the steady play in studio calendars, a corner that can lift when it performs and still mitigate the drag when it stumbles. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for top brass that efficiently budgeted chillers can shape audience talk, 2024 sustained momentum with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The momentum pushed into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles made clear there is capacity for multiple flavors, from returning installments to non-IP projects that export nicely. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a programming that appears tightly organized across the field, with obvious clusters, a combination of recognizable IP and novel angles, and a refocused emphasis on big-screen windows that drive downstream revenue on premium home window and streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now slots in as a plug-and-play option on the release plan. Horror can premiere on nearly any frame, supply a grabby hook for previews and short-form placements, and outpace with moviegoers that respond on opening previews and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the movie connects. In the wake of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping underscores confidence in that logic. The slate starts with a crowded January run, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a autumn stretch that extends to spooky season and past Halloween. The layout also illustrates the ongoing integration of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can build gradually, generate chatter, and broaden at the timely point.

A parallel macro theme is franchise tending across shared universes and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are setting up threaded continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title presentation that announces a tonal shift or a star attachment that connects a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating physical effects work, real effects and specific settings. That pairing offers the 2026 slate a vital pairing of brand comfort and unexpected turns, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the spine, framing it as both a relay and a foundation-forward relationship-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the tonal posture suggests a memory-charged bent without repeating the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Plan for a rollout leaning on iconic art, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reboots 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 in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will double down on. As a summer relief option, this one will chase general-audience talk through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever tops pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three separate pushes. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man purchases an artificial companion that turns into a harmful mate. The date lines it up at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to renew creepy live activations and brief clips that hybridizes affection and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books 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 listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a proper title to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His projects are set up as event films, with a hinting teaser and a later trailer push that define feel without revealing the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has consistently shown that a gritty, in-camera leaning strategy can feel cinematic on a middle budget. Look for a splatter summer horror blast that emphasizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio lines up two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, sustaining a bankable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is describing 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 mission to serve both core fans and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around world-building, and creature design, elements that can drive premium format interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by careful craft and linguistic texture, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is positive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that boosts both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video continues to mix licensed titles with international acquisitions and select theatrical runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library engagement, using curated hubs, holiday hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival snaps, confirming horror entries toward the drop and eventizing debuts with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown a willingness to take on select projects with award winners or star-driven packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 runway with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is simple: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, reimagined for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the back half.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday slot to go wider. That positioning has worked well for filmmaker-driven genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Known brands versus new stories

By count, 2026 is weighted toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The caveat, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is leading with core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects add air. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the assembly is familiar enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set frame the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror hit big in large-format rooms. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they reorient and elevate scope. 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 shot in tandem, allows marketing to tie installments through character web and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without hiatuses.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind the upcoming entries forecast a continued preference for hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that centers atmosphere and fear rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a my review here austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta inflection that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster aesthetics and world-building, which favor expo activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel must-have. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is stacked. 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 quiet contrast amid larger brand plays. The month finishes 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 meaningful, but the range of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Late winter and spring set up the summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late-season stretch leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a opaque tease strategy and limited information drops that prioritize concept over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s artificial companion unfolds into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie 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 face a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss try to survive on a isolated island as the chain of command shifts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to terror, anchored by Cronin’s tactile craft and oozing 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 family-home haunting chiller that mediates the fear via a preteen’s volatile personal vantage. Rating: pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal 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 comic send-up that skewers present-day genre chatter and true-crime crazes. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 bursts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new clan entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-core horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: pending. Production: proceeding. 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 time-true diction and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces organize this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter 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 exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

The slot calculus is real. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will cluster across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, 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 efficient band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, tight deployments, 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 materiality, sonics, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Promising 2026

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand heft where it matters, auteur intent 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.