Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts ancient terror, a spine tingling horror feature, rolling out October 2025 on global platforms

One unnerving unearthly nightmare movie from scriptwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic force when strangers become victims in a devilish ritual. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing saga of resilience and age-old darkness that will redefine scare flicks this fall. Brought to life by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and eerie fearfest follows five individuals who arise locked in a off-grid structure under the malevolent will of Kyra, a tormented girl occupied by a antiquated biblical force. Ready yourself to be enthralled by a visual ride that integrates raw fear with mythic lore, hitting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a long-standing foundation in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the presences no longer come from an outside force, but rather internally. This echoes the deepest dimension of every character. The result is a relentless inner struggle where the narrative becomes a relentless conflict between right and wrong.


In a desolate natural abyss, five figures find themselves cornered under the unholy grip and inhabitation of a secretive spirit. As the ensemble becomes vulnerable to resist her influence, severed and followed by forces mind-shattering, they are cornered to face their core terrors while the timeline harrowingly runs out toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear surges and ties crack, requiring each member to evaluate their character and the idea of personal agency itself. The tension amplify with every passing moment, delivering a frightening tale that fuses supernatural terror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dive into pure dread, an curse that existed before mankind, channeling itself through our weaknesses, and exposing a presence that peels away humanity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra needed manifesting something deeper than fear. She is in denial until the control shifts, and that flip is haunting because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for digital release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving horror lovers no matter where they are can engage with this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has racked up over six-figure audience.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, spreading the horror to global fright lovers.


Witness this visceral fall into madness. Join *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to uncover these haunting secrets about our species.


For bonus footage, extra content, and insider scoops from those who lived it, follow @YACMovie across entertainment pages and visit the official website.





Horror’s inflection point: 2025 American release plan braids together archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, paired with legacy-brand quakes

Moving from pressure-cooker survival tales drawn from near-Eastern lore to series comebacks alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the most textured together with strategic year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio powerhouses hold down the year via recognizable brands, even as SVOD players crowd the fall with discovery plays alongside ancestral chills. Across the art-house lane, the artisan tier is fueled by the kinetic energy from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are exacting, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige terror resurfaces

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s slate lights the fuse with a bold swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a clear present-tense world. Led by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. dated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial heat flags it as potent.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. Pictures drops the final chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

The Black Phone 2 follows. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, thickens the animatronic pantheon, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, pinning the winter close.

SVOD Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a room scale body horror descent led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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.

Key Trends

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror swings back
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forward View: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

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, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. 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 assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The oncoming fright year to come: returning titles, fresh concepts, together with A brimming Calendar geared toward nightmares

Dek The current terror year packs immediately with a January pile-up, after that flows through summer, and well into the year-end corridor, balancing legacy muscle, novel approaches, and well-timed counterweight. Studios with streamers are prioritizing mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that position genre releases into all-audience topics.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable tool in studio calendars, a segment that can scale when it performs and still cushion the exposure when it stumbles. After 2023 reminded top brass that mid-range scare machines can galvanize audience talk, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam pushed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and festival-grade titles made clear there is a market for different modes, from returning installments to director-led originals that perform internationally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a roster that appears tightly organized across players, with strategic blocks, a mix of familiar brands and new concepts, and a reinvigorated eye on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital and home streaming.

Planners observe the category now acts as a wildcard on the programming map. Horror can premiere on many corridors, supply a clear pitch for promo reels and vertical videos, and punch above weight with moviegoers that appear on Thursday nights and return through the second frame if the title pays off. Coming out of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 rhythm shows conviction in that dynamic. The slate starts with a busy January run, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while reserving space for a autumn push that stretches into spooky season and into the next week. The map also highlights the stronger partnership of specialized labels and digital platforms that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and broaden at the timely point.

An added macro current is brand curation across brand ecosystems and legacy IP. The studios are not just greenlighting another follow-up. They are looking to package brand continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title treatment that signals a re-angled tone or a cast configuration that threads a upcoming film to a first wave. At the very same time, the creative teams behind the most watched originals are prioritizing real-world builds, in-camera effects and site-specific worlds. That interplay yields the 2026 slate a robust balance of trust and novelty, which is how the films export.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount fires first with two big-ticket moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the spine, presenting it as both a lineage transfer and a heritage-centered character piece. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the directional approach indicates a nostalgia-forward bent without looping the last two entries’ sisters thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on heritage visuals, character-first teases, and a two-beat trailer plan hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will spotlight. As a summer alternative, this one will generate wide buzz through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever owns the conversation that spring.

Universal has three distinct entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is efficient, tragic, and high-concept: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that becomes a murderous partner. The date places it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to replay creepy live activations and snackable content that blurs devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a proper title to become an PR pop closer to the initial tease. The timing useful reference offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s releases are positioned as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has shown that a visceral, physical-effects centered execution can feel top-tier on a moderate cost. Position this as a splatter summer horror shock that spotlights worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio mounts two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, sustaining a trusty supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is billing as a clean-slate approach 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 explicit mandate to serve both diehards and novices. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around setting detail, and creature work, elements that can stoke PLF interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and archaic language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The distributor has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is warm.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a cadence that maximizes both launch urgency and platform bumps in the later phase. Prime Video blends acquired titles with global pickups and small theatrical windows when the data supports it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and programmed rows to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about own-slate titles and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that translates talk to trials. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to secure select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint 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 feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for sustained usage when the genre conversation surges.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is straightforward: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, retooled for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a theatrical-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the back half.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then using the holiday dates to open out. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-first horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception drives. Look 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 as partners, using select theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchises versus originals

By share, 2026 leans in favor of the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The practical approach is to position each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-flavored turn from a hot helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Three-year comps contextualize the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that honored streaming windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from succeeding when the brand was compelling. In 2024, precision craft horror surged in premium large format. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, lets marketing to bridge entries through cast and motif and to keep assets alive without dead zones.

Craft and creative trends

The creative meetings behind the upcoming entries point to a continued emphasis on tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-effects sensibility 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 emphasizes grain and menace rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft features before rolling out a tone piece that keeps plot minimal, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for red-band excess, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta recalibration that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel essential. Look for trailers that highlight precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that explode in larger rooms.

From winter to holidays

January is full. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid heavier IP. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth persists.

Early-year through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a slow-reveal plan and limited pre-release reveals that put concept first.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s artificial companion becomes something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

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 confront a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss push to survive on a cut-off island as the control balance swivels and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to horror, anchored by Cronin’s in-camera craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting narrative that explores the unease of a child’s tricky senses. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A comic send-up that targets present-day genre chatter and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites spreads, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting 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: to be announced. Logline: The Further reopens, with a fresh family entangled with residual nightmares. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for true survival horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: undetermined. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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-faithful speech and primordial 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: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three execution-level forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more structured 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 releases. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will stack across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 breakout 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 exploit those windows. 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. 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, 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 sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, soundcraft, and imagery 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, Lined Up To Scare

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is IP strength where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, protect the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.