Ancient Darkness Awakens in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling shocker, arriving October 2025 across leading streamers

This haunting otherworldly suspense film from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient force when foreigners become victims in a malevolent ordeal. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish account of overcoming and old world terror that will reimagine terror storytelling this season. Visualized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and gothic motion picture follows five lost souls who come to locked in a remote cabin under the hostile sway of Kyra, a young woman possessed by a timeless religious nightmare. Be prepared to be drawn in by a theatrical outing that weaves together instinctive fear with legendary tales, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a time-honored fixture in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is flipped when the spirits no longer manifest from an outside force, but rather from their core. This mirrors the deepest part of the victims. The result is a riveting moral showdown where the intensity becomes a relentless struggle between virtue and vice.


In a forsaken natural abyss, five souls find themselves stuck under the fiendish aura and inhabitation of a obscure character. As the ensemble becomes helpless to resist her grasp, marooned and tracked by unknowns ungraspable, they are required to face their raw vulnerabilities while the timeline ruthlessly ticks onward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension builds and bonds crack, forcing each soul to reflect on their self and the idea of liberty itself. The consequences magnify with every fleeting time, delivering a frightening tale that harmonizes demonic fright with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to draw upon ancestral fear, an force rooted in antiquity, working through human fragility, and navigating a being that peels away humanity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra needed manifesting something unfamiliar to reason. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that transition is haunting because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—ensuring watchers everywhere can face this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its first trailer, which has seen over massive response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, giving access to the movie to thrill-seekers globally.


Tune in for this life-altering exploration of dread. Join *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to survive these haunting secrets about free will.


For bonus footage, set experiences, and social posts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit the official digital haunt.





Today’s horror major pivot: 2025 for genre fans stateside slate interlaces legend-infused possession, indie terrors, and IP aftershocks

Ranging from pressure-cooker survival tales saturated with old testament echoes and stretching into series comebacks alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 is coalescing into the most complex paired with deliberate year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. Top studios plant stakes across the year with established lines, simultaneously digital services front-load the fall with debut heat in concert with old-world menace. In parallel, festival-forward creators is surfing the carry from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, but this year, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are targeted, and 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the base, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s pipeline opens the year with a headline swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. dated for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Led by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate sets loose the finale of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula 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. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: period tinged dread, trauma as theme, plus otherworld rules that chill. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, stretches the animatronic parade, speaking to teens and older millennials. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Economy, maximum dread

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the quieter side is Together, a two hander body horror spiral including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn starring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed 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 night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No puffed out backstory. No series drag. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

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

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Dials to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror comes roaring back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

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

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Fall pileup, winter curveball

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

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The upcoming genre slate: installments, original films, and also A busy Calendar Built For screams

Dek: The fresh terror cycle loads up front with a January logjam, before it stretches through summer, and deep into the year-end corridor, blending brand heft, inventive spins, and strategic alternatives. The major players are committing to cost discipline, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-driven marketing that shape genre releases into broad-appeal conversations.

Where horror stands going into 2026

The horror marketplace has grown into the most reliable tool in distribution calendars, a lane that can accelerate when it breaks through and still cushion the floor when it underperforms. After 2023 showed executives that low-to-mid budget scare machines can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The trend translated to the 2025 frame, where reboots and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is demand for multiple flavors, from continued chapters to non-IP projects that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a schedule that feels more orchestrated than usual across the market, with obvious clusters, a combination of brand names and untested plays, and a tightened emphasis on theater exclusivity that feed downstream value on paid VOD and SVOD.

Insiders argue the genre now serves as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can premiere on numerous frames, yield a sharp concept for ad units and vertical videos, and outpace with ticket buyers that arrive on advance nights and stay strong through the week two if the movie pays off. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 plan signals confidence in that equation. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January window, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while carving room for a autumn stretch that connects to spooky season and into November. The grid also highlights the continuing integration of boutique distributors and platforms that can stage a platform run, fuel WOM, and widen at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and long-running brands. The companies are not just making another follow-up. They are working to present lineage with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that signals a new vibe or a lead change that connects a new entry to a vintage era. At the simultaneously, the auteurs behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring practical craft, real effects and place-driven backdrops. That convergence yields the 2026 slate a healthy mix of home base and invention, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount sets the tone early with two marquee entries that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the heart, signaling it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character study. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance indicates a classic-referencing treatment without replaying the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave centered on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a two-beat trailer plan slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will double down on. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever tops the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three differentiated releases. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is straightforward, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man adopts an synthetic partner that mutates into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the marketing arm likely to bring back odd public stunts and short reels that threads intimacy and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title reveal to become an earned moment closer to the initial promo. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. His entries are presented as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second trailer wave that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The pre-Halloween slot affords 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has consistently shown that a blood-soaked, on-set effects led mix can feel premium on a mid-range budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror rush that spotlights worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio sets two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious navigate to this website film hits August 21, 2026, extending a dependable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is framing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both diehards and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build artifacts around lore, and practical creature work, elements that can increase premium screens and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror shaped by immersive craft and textual fidelity, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is glowing.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s slate transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a tiered path that expands both debut momentum and platform bumps in the downstream. Prime Video continues to mix acquired titles with global acquisitions and select theatrical runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in deep cuts, using featured rows, Halloween hubs, and staff picks to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix retains agility about original films and festival acquisitions, dating horror entries near launch and turning into events arrivals with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a one-two of limited theatrical footprints and accelerated platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to buy select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars 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 notable driver for retention when the genre conversation swells.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is simple: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, modernized 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 indicated a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the back half.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday dates to broaden. That positioning has helped for prestige horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception justifies. Watch for 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 small theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By proportion, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on cultural cachet. The trade-off, as ever, is viewer burnout. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a new angle. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a hot helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the package is known enough to build pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns frame the template. In 2023, a exclusive window model that respected streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror exceeded expectations in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they angle differently and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, provides the means for marketing to thread films through personae and themes and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

Production craft signals

The creative meetings behind these films signal a continued preference for physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores aura and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-true language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft coverage before rolling out a atmospheric tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and drives shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster aesthetics and world-building, which match well with fan conventions and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

How the year maps out

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 bigger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth holds.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now accommodates 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited teasers that prioritize concept over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

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 re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s digital partner turns into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a changing 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 difficult boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the chain of command upends and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fright, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting scenario that threads the dread through a young child’s uncertain subjective view. Rating: TBD. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A genre lampoon that targets of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 ignites, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a fresh family bound to old terrors. Rating: undetermined. 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: unrevealed. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: to be announced. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. 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 period-precise speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the moment is 2026

Three grounded forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that eased or shuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will coexist across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R check over here entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where value-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 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. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 cold, 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 prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, disciplined footprints, 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 surface detail, soundcraft, and cinematography 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

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, creative ambition 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.