Antediluvian Evil Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled horror feature, premiering Oct 2025 on top streamers

An chilling spiritual terror film from dramatist / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic evil when outsiders become pawns in a fiendish trial. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing tale of staying alive and archaic horror that will reconstruct horror this scare season. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and cinematic suspense flick follows five unknowns who suddenly rise locked in a cut-off shack under the unfriendly grip of Kyra, a possessed female overtaken by a time-worn holy text monster. Get ready to be ensnared by a audio-visual event that intertwines soul-chilling terror with biblical origins, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a enduring foundation in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reversed when the forces no longer form from external sources, but rather internally. This embodies the most sinister element of these individuals. The result is a relentless moral showdown where the narrative becomes a merciless battle between righteousness and malevolence.


In a bleak landscape, five individuals find themselves marooned under the evil dominion and curse of a haunted character. As the survivors becomes defenseless to fight her will, isolated and targeted by presences beyond reason, they are driven to face their deepest fears while the doomsday meter relentlessly counts down toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension surges and relationships erode, urging each person to reflect on their existence and the nature of autonomy itself. The pressure escalate with every beat, delivering a frightening tale that harmonizes unearthly horror with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to draw upon instinctual horror, an evil rooted in antiquity, channeling itself through mental cracks, and highlighting a power that forces self-examination when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra needed manifesting something beneath mortal despair. She is clueless until the invasion happens, and that conversion is gut-wrenching because it is so deep.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering watchers around the globe can witness this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first trailer, which has gathered over massive response.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, offering the tale to global fright lovers.


Make sure to see this soul-jarring ride through nightmares. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to experience these nightmarish insights about our species.


For previews, special features, and news via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across online outlets and visit our spooky domain.





Current horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 American release plan blends old-world possession, Indie Shockers, together with IP aftershocks

Ranging from pressure-cooker survival tales suffused with mythic scripture and stretching into legacy revivals in concert with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 appears poised to be the most variegated plus intentionally scheduled year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. leading studios plant stakes across the year with known properties, simultaneously streaming platforms crowd the fall with emerging auteurs plus archetypal fear. On another front, festival-forward creators is propelled by the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The fall stretch is the proving field, and in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are precise, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: The Return of Prestige Fear

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s schedule kicks off the frame with a bold swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. targeting mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Eli Craig directs including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson resumes command, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, and a cold supernatural calculus. The stakes escalate here, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The new chapter enriches the lore, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Plays: Modest spend, serious shock

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and helmed by 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. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a smart play. No swollen lore. No series drag. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

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 revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Franchise Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Trends to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

What’s Next: Fall pileup, winter curveball

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper will tussle for space. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The oncoming spook season: entries, universe starters, alongside A jammed Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek The upcoming terror cycle lines up from day one with a January traffic jam, then runs through the summer months, and pushing into the festive period, mixing marquee clout, original angles, and calculated alternatives. Studios with streamers are committing to cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that position these offerings into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has become the steady lever in studio slates, a genre that can scale when it resonates and still mitigate the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 showed studio brass that modestly budgeted pictures can steer audience talk, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The head of steam fed into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is appetite for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a programming that feels more orchestrated than usual across the major shops, with obvious clusters, a pairing of established brands and fresh ideas, and a refocused eye on release windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and home streaming.

Schedulers say the horror lane now acts as a versatile piece on the programming map. Horror can open on almost any weekend, yield a sharp concept for ad units and vertical videos, and exceed norms with viewers that come out on first-look nights and maintain momentum through the next pass if the release delivers. In the wake of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 cadence underscores belief in that setup. The year rolls out with a front-loaded January corridor, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a late-year stretch that carries into the Halloween corridor and into the next week. The arrangement also reflects the greater integration of specialized imprints and SVOD players that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and grow at the optimal moment.

A reinforcing pattern is IP cultivation across connected story worlds and classic IP. Studio teams are not just making another continuation. They are setting up lineage with a specialness, whether that is a graphic identity that signals a new vibe or a lead change that links a incoming chapter to a first wave. At the very same time, the visionaries behind the marquee originals are prioritizing tactile craft, on-set effects and location-forward worlds. That interplay offers the 2026 slate a healthy mix of known notes and novelty, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount plants an early flag with two big-ticket projects that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-focused installment. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture suggests a throwback-friendly framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with iconic art, early character teases, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will lean on. As a summer contrast play, this one will drive broad awareness through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick redirects to whatever defines horror talk that spring.

Universal has three defined bets. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is efficient, soulful, and commercial: a grieving man activates an machine companion that mutates into a perilous partner. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to recreate uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that hybridizes romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are positioned as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second beat that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot creates space for Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, prosthetic-heavy style can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror shock that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio mounts two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a trusty supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is framing as a ground-zero restart 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 directive to serve both fans and casuals. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build artifacts around world-building, and creature builds, elements that can drive PLF interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues Eggers’ run of period horror centered on meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time exploring werewolf lore. The distributor has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is supportive.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform windowing in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ladder that optimizes both launch urgency and subscriber lifts in the later phase. Prime Video pairs licensed titles with world buys and brief theater runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in deep cuts, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and curated rows to prolong the run on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival grabs, locking in horror entries closer to launch and staging as events arrivals with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of tailored theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with established auteurs or star packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is curating a 2026 arc with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, modernized for modern mix and image. Later in the year, have a peek at this web-site Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, shepherding the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the December frame to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for elevated genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using small theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By count, the 2026 slate bends toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is overexposure. The standing approach is to frame each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-accented approach from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the deal build is comforting enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a dual release from winning when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they rotate perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, provides the means for marketing to bridge entries through character spine and themes and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The creative meetings behind the year’s horror foreshadow a continued bias toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that leans on creep and texture rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft features before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for red-band excess, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and spurs shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which fit with convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel compelling. Look for trailers that foreground fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that sing on PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is crowded. 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 foggy reset amid macro-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the palette of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth holds.

Winter into spring prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a this page classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows 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 comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre weblink diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil follows September 18, a transitional slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a peekaboo tease plan and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card spend.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s algorithmic partner unfolds into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 hardens 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. 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 tough boss battle to survive on a lonely island as the pecking order flips and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that threads the dread through a young child’s unreliable subjective view. Rating: to be announced. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: major-studio and A-list fronted supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 breaks out, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new household snared by residual nightmares. Rating: pending. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: not yet rated. Production: continuing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and elemental dread. Rating: pending. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why 2026, why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or reshuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined 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 placements. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on meme-ready beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will stack across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, soundcraft, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, protect the mystery, and let the gasps sell the seats.