Mythic Terror Surfaces within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding horror thriller, bowing October 2025 across major streaming services

This chilling ghostly fear-driven tale from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an long-buried curse when foreigners become subjects in a dark contest. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking chronicle of living through and prehistoric entity that will revolutionize genre cinema this fall. Created by rising thriller expert Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and claustrophobic tale follows five unknowns who find themselves isolated in a far-off structure under the aggressive command of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a timeless ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be absorbed by a cinematic outing that weaves together instinctive fear with spiritual backstory, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a recurring pillar in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is twisted when the fiends no longer arise beyond the self, but rather deep within. This symbolizes the grimmest shade of all involved. The result is a edge-of-seat identity crisis where the plotline becomes a merciless fight between innocence and sin.


In a wilderness-stricken backcountry, five youths find themselves contained under the dark grip and inhabitation of a obscure person. As the youths becomes paralyzed to withstand her influence, abandoned and pursued by evils unnamable, they are confronted to reckon with their soulful dreads while the time without pity pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread escalates and teams splinter, demanding each soul to reflect on their being and the idea of self-determination itself. The pressure accelerate with every heartbeat, delivering a paranormal ride that fuses otherworldly panic with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dig into primal fear, an darkness before modern man, manifesting in emotional fractures, and dealing with a being that tests the soul when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant channeling something deeper than fear. She is insensitive until the takeover begins, and that flip is soul-crushing because it is so unshielded.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving users in all regions can enjoy this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its first trailer, which has racked up over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, exporting the fear to thrill-seekers globally.


Avoid skipping this gripping voyage through terror. Stream *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to face these unholy truths about the human condition.


For director insights, behind-the-scenes content, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Current horror’s inflection point: 2025 domestic schedule braids together biblical-possession ideas, art-house nightmares, in parallel with brand-name tremors

Across life-or-death fear infused with old testament echoes and including IP renewals as well as sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex along with calculated campaign year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio majors plant stakes across the year via recognizable brands, while premium streamers crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs together with archetypal fear. At the same time, the artisan tier is buoyed by the tailwinds of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, however this time, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are intentional, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige fear returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. landing in mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: throwback unease, trauma foregrounded, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This time the stakes climb, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The new chapter enriches the lore, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It opens in December, cornering year end horror.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a room scale body horror descent pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a clever angle. No swollen lore. No franchise baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festivals as Springboards

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

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Brands: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, from Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real 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.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

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

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The filler era wanes for platform horror. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Big screen is a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The new terror season: entries, universe starters, alongside A busy Calendar geared toward shocks

Dek The arriving horror season packs early with a January wave, thereafter extends through summer, and running into the festive period, fusing legacy muscle, new concepts, and calculated counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are embracing right-sized spends, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that position these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has become the steady play in programming grids, a pillar that can expand when it lands and still buffer the losses when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for strategy teams that cost-conscious horror vehicles can dominate the zeitgeist, the following year maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and unexpected risers. The head of steam moved into 2025, where reawakened brands and prestige plays highlighted there is a lane for different modes, from franchise continuations to original features that perform internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a roster that is strikingly coherent across studios, with intentional bunching, a balance of known properties and new packages, and a renewed priority on box-office windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the category now behaves like a fill-in ace on the rollout map. Horror can debut on a wide range of weekends, supply a tight logline for teasers and social clips, and overperform with audiences that respond on Thursday previews and continue through the next weekend if the film fires. In the wake of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 layout demonstrates belief in that dynamic. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January run, then taps spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while saving space for a autumn push that runs into All Hallows period and beyond. The grid also highlights the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and subscription services that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and broaden at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across shared universes and legacy IP. Studios are not just releasing another continuation. They are seeking to position brand continuity with a occasion, whether that is a typeface approach that indicates a refreshed voice or a ensemble decision that bridges a new installment to a early run. At the in tandem, the creative teams behind the headline-grabbing originals are prioritizing physical effects work, makeup and prosthetics and location-forward worlds. That combination hands the 2026 slate a lively combination of familiarity and unexpected turns, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount establishes early momentum with two marquee projects that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the focus, angling it as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character study. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the narrative stance indicates a legacy-leaning strategy without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. Watch for a push driven by recognizable motifs, character previews, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches 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 contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will double down on. As a summer relief option, this one will pursue broad awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format supporting quick updates to whatever rules the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three unique bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is crisp, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man sets up an intelligent companion that grows into a murderous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to revisit viral uncanny stunts and short-cut promos that mixes devotion and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s releases are branded as signature events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-October frame creates space for Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has demonstrated that a flesh-and-blood, on-set effects led approach can feel premium on a controlled budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror shot that embraces international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio sets two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, keeping a proven supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is marketing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both loyalists and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build artifacts around canon, and monster craft, elements that can amplify PLF interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and period speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s releases shift to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a sequence that expands both week-one demand and trial spikes in the post-theatrical. Prime Video pairs licensed titles with worldwide entries and small theatrical windows when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in back-catalog play, using prominent placements, October hubs, and programmed rows to lengthen the tail on the horror cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival deals, locking in horror entries with shorter lead times and coalescing around drops with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a two-step of precision theatrical plays and short jumps to platform that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has indicated interest to invest in select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for monthly engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, retooled for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday frame to go wider. That positioning has been successful for auteur horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception warrants. Keep an eye 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 hand in hand, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Franchises versus originals

By skew, 2026 is weighted toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The question, as ever, is staleness. The preferred tactic is to package each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the packaging is assuring enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent-year comps outline the model. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that observed windows did not deter a simultaneous release test from working when the brand was strong. In 2024, art-forward horror rose in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, enables marketing to interlace chapters through character arcs and themes and to keep assets in-market without pause points.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The shop talk behind 2026 horror hint at a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that centers unease and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster realization and design, which favor con floor moments and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel key. Look for trailers that center precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Annual flow

January is loaded. 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 somber counterpoint amid headline IP. The month buttons 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 legit, but the palette of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium weblink pass.

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 lines up after September 18, a late-September window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a slow-reveal plan and limited previews that elevate concept over story.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card spend.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s AI companion escalates into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-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 comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 prickly boss claw to survive on a remote island as the hierarchy shifts and dread encroaches. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to horror, shaped by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting tale that threads the dread through a youth’s uneven POV. Rating: forthcoming. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-financed and marquee-led supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that skewers in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fervors. Rating: TBD. 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 erupts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new family bound to ancient dread. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 language and primal menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: auteur prestige horror this page aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. this page 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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three practical forces structure this lineup. First, production that paused or recalendared in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

The slot calculus is real. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, offering breathing room for genre entries that can control a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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

The search for sleepers continues in Q1, where lean-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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, 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 like the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, 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.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.