Antediluvian Dread Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling shocker, arriving Oct 2025 on top digital platforms

An haunting paranormal fear-driven tale from narrative craftsman / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic terror when unrelated individuals become tokens in a devilish ordeal. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful journey of resilience and prehistoric entity that will reimagine the horror genre this October. Visualized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and moody suspense flick follows five lost souls who suddenly rise stranded in a isolated house under the malevolent dominion of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a 2,000-year-old Old Testament spirit. Be warned to be hooked by a audio-visual outing that intertwines deep-seated panic with ancient myths, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a legendary foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is reversed when the beings no longer emerge from external sources, but rather from their psyche. This symbolizes the haunting part of the cast. The result is a bone-chilling moral showdown where the emotions becomes a merciless conflict between heaven and hell.


In a haunting forest, five teens find themselves trapped under the ghastly presence and overtake of a uncanny person. As the cast becomes powerless to escape her influence, stranded and tracked by evils beyond reason, they are forced to reckon with their inner demons while the timeline mercilessly strikes toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion grows and teams shatter, requiring each participant to rethink their identity and the concept of freedom of choice itself. The pressure grow with every beat, delivering a horror experience that harmonizes mystical fear with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to evoke instinctual horror, an evil rooted in antiquity, embedding itself in soul-level flaws, and challenging a force that challenges autonomy when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something rooted in terror. She is blind until the spirit seizes her, and that pivot is eerie because it is so unshielded.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering users worldwide can dive into this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has collected over six-figure audience.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, making the film to viewers around the world.


Be sure to catch this haunted ride through nightmares. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to confront these chilling revelations about our species.


For sneak peeks, extra content, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across media channels and visit our spooky domain.





Today’s horror pivotal crossroads: 2025 U.S. calendar fuses legend-infused possession, underground frights, plus tentpole growls

Spanning last-stand terror infused with ancient scripture to returning series plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as horror’s most layered combined with intentionally scheduled year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. leading studios lay down anchors through proven series, simultaneously digital services pack the fall with new voices in concert with ancient terrors. In the indie lane, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is catching the kinetic energy of a banner 2024 fest year. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and now, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are calculated, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal Pictures kicks off the frame with a confident swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in a clear present-tense world. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. 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 port tuned to austere horror. Led by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

At summer’s close, Warner Bros. bows the concluding entry of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: retro dread, trauma as text, along with eerie supernatural rules. The stakes escalate here, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The follow up digs further into canon, stretches the animatronic parade, courting teens and the thirty something base. It hits in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a close quarters body horror study including 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 moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. 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 tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. 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 hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is canny scheduling. No bloated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror reemerges
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 fright year to come: returning titles, filmmaker-first projects, And A packed Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The new terror year clusters up front with a January logjam, and then carries through the mid-year, and far into the December corridor, fusing IP strength, creative pitches, and savvy offsets. Distributors with platforms are betting on smart costs, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that transform genre titles into broad-appeal conversations.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has turned into the consistent tool in release plans, a pillar that can scale when it connects and still limit the losses when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year re-taught executives that lean-budget horror vehicles can drive cultural conversation, 2024 extended the rally with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The upswing flowed into 2025, where reawakened brands and filmmaker-prestige bets highlighted there is a lane for many shades, from series extensions to original one-offs that perform internationally. The end result for 2026 is a lineup that seems notably aligned across studios, with clear date clusters, a equilibrium of legacy names and original hooks, and a tightened eye on box-office windows that fuel later windows on premium video on demand and streaming.

Planners observe the horror lane now functions as a wildcard on the slate. The genre can arrive on most weekends, generate a tight logline for promo reels and reels, and lead with viewers that appear on early shows and continue through the second weekend if the release works. Exiting a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores assurance in that approach. The year kicks off with a crowded January stretch, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while reserving space for a autumn stretch that extends to All Hallows period and into November. The layout also underscores the expanded integration of indie distributors and subscription services that can build gradually, generate chatter, and broaden at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is legacy care across unified worlds and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just producing another sequel. They are moving to present threaded continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a art treatment that signals a fresh attitude or a casting move that bridges a latest entry to a original cycle. At the concurrently, the directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are leaning into real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That alloy provides the 2026 slate a solid mix of known notes and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile titles that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the spine, marketing it as both a legacy handover and a back-to-basics relationship-driven entry. Production is active in Atlanta, and the authorial approach conveys a legacy-leaning mode without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. Plan for a rollout fueled by iconic art, character previews, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also resurrects 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 in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will stress. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mass reach through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever tops pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three discrete plays. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is tidy, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man adopts an intelligent companion that becomes a deadly partner. The date puts it at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise creepy live activations and bite-size content that interweaves devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an headline beat closer to the early tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele projects are branded as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room 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, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has made clear that a gritty, makeup-driven strategy can feel top-tier on a efficient spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror blast that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is framing as a from-the-ground-up reboot 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 well-defined brief to serve both loyalists and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build artifacts around narrative world, and monster aesthetics, elements that can lift format premiums and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s horror titles head to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a tiered path that optimizes both initial urgency and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video blends licensed titles with world buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in back-catalog play, using featured rows, holiday hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival snaps, scheduling horror entries toward the drop and coalescing around go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a laddered of focused cinema runs and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a curated basis. The platform has signaled readiness to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or A-list packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway 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 uncomplicated: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a theatrical-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has served the company well for director-led genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception drives. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By weight, 2026 favors the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate fan equity. The watch-out, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is elevating character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a ascendant talent. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the package is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Comparable trends from recent years help explain the template. In 2023, a cinema-first model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a day-date move from delivering when the brand was potent. In 2024, auteur craft horror punched above its weight in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga reminded my company the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and increase ambition. 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 double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The creative meetings behind this year’s genre point to a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that leans on creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft coverage before rolling out a first look that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which fit with booth activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

How the year maps out

January is jammed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Q1 into Q2 stage summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a slow-reveal plan and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s AI companion evolves into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shimmering 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 struggle to survive on a isolated island as the power balance flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fright, shaped by Cronin’s material craft and oozing 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 family-home haunting premise that twists the terror of a child’s mercurial interpretations. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-crafted and headline-actor led supernatural mood piece.

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 send-up revival that pokes at present-day genre chatter and true crime preoccupations. Rating: undetermined. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 flares, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further opens again, with a unlucky family lashed to older hauntings. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: A restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: TBD. Production: ongoing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and primal menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming placements. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, metered scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

There is also the slotting calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, freeing space for genre entries that can capture a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will cluster across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where modest-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

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

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

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand gravity where needed, inventive vision where it helps, 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.