Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primordial evil, a hair raising feature, landing Oct 2025 on top streamers

This eerie otherworldly thriller from narrative craftsman / director Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an mythic malevolence when outsiders become tools in a fiendish trial. Launching this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching depiction of resistance and ancient evil that will reshape fear-driven cinema this scare season. Crafted by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and immersive film follows five characters who suddenly rise caught in a secluded wooden structure under the oppressive sway of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a timeless sacrosanct terror. Get ready to be absorbed by a narrative experience that weaves together deep-seated panic with ancestral stories, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a long-standing narrative in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is reversed when the presences no longer originate from a different plane, but rather internally. This illustrates the haunting aspect of these individuals. The result is a psychologically brutal psychological battle where the conflict becomes a brutal battle between righteousness and malevolence.


In a desolate wilderness, five individuals find themselves imprisoned under the sinister rule and domination of a unknown being. As the cast becomes incapacitated to deny her will, severed and hunted by presences beyond comprehension, they are obligated to encounter their darkest emotions while the deathwatch brutally draws closer toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion surges and links erode, pushing each soul to scrutinize their core and the integrity of autonomy itself. The danger amplify with every heartbeat, delivering a scare-fueled ride that intertwines ghostly evil with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to uncover instinctual horror, an malevolence beyond time, operating within mental cracks, and dealing with a evil that threatens selfhood when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra asked for exploring something outside normal anguish. She is oblivious until the control shifts, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering subscribers in all regions can witness this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its initial teaser, which has racked up over a viral response.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, spreading the horror to horror fans worldwide.


Join this bone-rattling spiral into evil. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these ghostly lessons about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and news from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursed across your socials and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule melds archetypal-possession themes, indie terrors, paired with legacy-brand quakes

Running from survival horror suffused with ancient scripture through to returning series and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 looks like the most complex together with intentionally scheduled year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios set cornerstones via recognizable brands, concurrently streaming platforms front-load the fall with new voices alongside ancestral chills. In parallel, independent banners is fueled by the backdraft of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are disciplined, so 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with a big gambit: a refashioned Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. From director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Steered by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer fades, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re boards, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. This time, the stakes are raised, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The return delves further into myth, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It drops in December, buttoning the final window.

Streaming Firsts: Lean budgets, heavy bite

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and helmed 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. With the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a clever angle. No puffed out backstory. No franchise baggage. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy IP: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, from Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. 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, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

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

Forward View: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The forthcoming 2026 spook slate: Sequels, universe starters, And A hectic Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek The emerging horror calendar crowds from day one with a January bottleneck, subsequently rolls through midyear, and deep into the holidays, combining legacy muscle, original angles, and smart release strategy. Studios with streamers are betting on cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that elevate the slate’s entries into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has shown itself to be the most reliable swing in studio slates, a category that can expand when it connects and still protect the drawdown when it stumbles. After the 2023 year demonstrated to decision-makers that responsibly budgeted horror vehicles can dominate mainstream conversation, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and sleeper breakouts. The trend extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and elevated films highlighted there is demand for a variety of tones, from returning installments to original one-offs that scale internationally. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a slate that is strikingly coherent across companies, with mapped-out bands, a spread of familiar brands and novel angles, and a tightened attention on cinema windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Marketers add the category now works like a wildcard on the rollout map. The genre can arrive on many corridors, furnish a easy sell for creative and shorts, and punch above weight with viewers that turn out on preview nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the entry connects. Following a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 setup exhibits assurance in that setup. The calendar opens with a busy January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for balance, while reserving space for a autumn push that stretches into All Hallows period and beyond. The map also shows the increasing integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can platform a title, fuel WOM, and grow at the proper time.

Another broad trend is brand curation across connected story worlds and legacy franchises. Big banners are not just releasing another sequel. They are shaping as ongoing narrative with a specialness, whether that is a title presentation that telegraphs a recalibrated tone or a star attachment that reconnects a fresh chapter to a early run. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the headline-grabbing originals are doubling down on practical craft, real effects and grounded locations. That convergence delivers the 2026 slate a solid mix of recognition and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount defines the early cadence with two prominent moves that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the heart, setting it up as both a lineage transfer and a classic-mode character-centered film. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach telegraphs a fan-service aware bent without recycling the last two entries’ sisters thread. Expect a marketing push rooted in legacy iconography, character spotlights, and a promo sequence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever leads genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three unique entries. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is crisp, soulful, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an AI companion that escalates into a dangerous lover. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s promo team likely to reprise viral uncanny stunts and brief clips that interweaves longing and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a public title to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. The filmmaker’s films are marketed as director events, with a minimalist tease and a later creative that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal room to fill 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning strategy can feel big on a efficient spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror blast that maximizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio launches two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, keeping a dependable supernatural brand in my company the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is selling as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build artifacts around lore, and creature design, elements that can increase premium screens and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by minute detail and archaic language, this time orbiting lycan myth. The imprint has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is glowing.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on known playbooks. The Universal horror run head to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ordering that boosts both FOMO and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video balances licensed titles with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in archive usage, using prominent placements, seasonal hubs, and curated rows to sustain interest on the 2026 genre total. Netflix remains opportunistic about internal projects and festival deals, dating horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a hybrid of precision releases and swift platform pivots that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has proven amenable to secure select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 lane with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is tight: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, elevated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a traditional cinema play for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then using the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception supports. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their user base.

Franchises versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate name recognition. The question, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to pitch each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a buzzed-about director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the bundle is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps illuminate the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that kept streaming intact did not stop a same-day experiment from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and grow scope. 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 back-to-back plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to hold creative in the market without doldrums.

Technique and craft currents

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films suggest a continued shift toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that foregrounds mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for red-band excess, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a self-aware reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster aesthetics and world-building, which fit with convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that spotlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that shine in top rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month caps 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 legit, but the tone spread affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

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

Summer clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil follows September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited pre-release reveals that trade in concept over detail.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s digital partner evolves into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror 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 be swallowed by a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: aura-driven 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 unyielding boss struggle to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to dread, rooted in Cronin’s in-camera craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 story that leverages the unease of a child’s unreliable perspective. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven 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 send-up revival that needles current genre trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer great post to read 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 surges, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a another family lashed to lingering terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A reboot designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBD. Production: in progress. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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: to be announced. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why this year, why now

Three workable forces define this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-sequenced in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly 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 launches. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine social-ready stingers from test screenings, curated scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Calendar math also matters. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can lead a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will compete across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, 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 escalate across the year, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to 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 detail, sonics, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los useful reference Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is IP strength where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.