Age-old Horror emerges: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding feature, bowing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

A terrifying spectral shockfest from cinematographer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an prehistoric fear when drifters become tools in a hellish ceremony. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing story of living through and ancient evil that will revolutionize fear-driven cinema this autumn. Produced by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and cinematic motion picture follows five lost souls who emerge imprisoned in a secluded house under the hostile manipulation of Kyra, a female presence consumed by a 2,000-year-old sacred-era entity. Brace yourself to be seized by a motion picture experience that harmonizes deep-seated panic with arcane tradition, dropping on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a time-honored tradition in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is inverted when the dark entities no longer develop from an outside force, but rather from within. This mirrors the darkest facet of the players. The result is a bone-chilling identity crisis where the emotions becomes a ongoing clash between good and evil.


In a barren no-man's-land, five figures find themselves imprisoned under the evil grip and overtake of a elusive figure. As the companions becomes unresisting to withstand her influence, cut off and chased by presences beyond comprehension, they are thrust to reckon with their emotional phantoms while the timeline relentlessly strikes toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion deepens and partnerships splinter, requiring each member to scrutinize their existence and the foundation of liberty itself. The stakes climb with every breath, delivering a chilling narrative that integrates spiritual fright with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to tap into pure dread, an curse beyond recorded history, embedding itself in soul-level flaws, and questioning a will that forces self-examination when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra was about accessing something rooted in terror. She is blind until the control shifts, and that conversion is emotionally raw because it is so internal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering households everywhere can engage with this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its original promo, which has earned over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, spreading the horror to viewers around the world.


Mark your calendar for this unforgettable trip into the unknown. Join *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to explore these fearful discoveries about the soul.


For bonus footage, special features, and alerts from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursed across social media and visit our film’s homepage.





Contemporary horror’s decisive shift: the year 2025 stateside slate melds old-world possession, art-house nightmares, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Moving from last-stand terror inspired by ancient scripture all the way to legacy revivals in concert with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the richest in tandem with blueprinted year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. the big studios set cornerstones by way of signature titles, concurrently streaming platforms flood the fall with new perspectives and archetypal fear. Meanwhile, independent banners is surfing the uplift from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween stays the prime week, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are exacting, which means 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Elevated fear reclaims ground

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal camp sets the tone with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. timed for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer eases, the WB camp bows the concluding entry from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. This time, the stakes are raised, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It bows in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Originals: Slim budgets, major punch

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a sealed box body horror arc led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn led by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: 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

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 movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No overinflated mythology. No brand fatigue. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

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.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Franchise Horror: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trends to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror comes roaring back
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Laurels convert to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The forthcoming 2026 terror Year Ahead: continuations, universe starters, in tandem with A brimming Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The incoming terror year crowds from the jump with a January pile-up, after that runs through midyear, and running into the holidays, balancing brand heft, fresh ideas, and savvy offsets. Major distributors and platforms are committing to mid-range economics, theatrical leads, and short-form initiatives that frame horror entries into water-cooler talk.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror marketplace has solidified as the sturdy option in annual schedules, a corner that can lift when it lands and still safeguard the losses when it stumbles. After 2023 re-taught executives that disciplined-budget pictures can galvanize the discourse, 2024 maintained heat with buzzy auteur projects and stealth successes. The head of steam moved into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers demonstrated there is an opening for diverse approaches, from continued chapters to standalone ideas that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a calendar that appears tightly organized across the major shops, with mapped-out bands, a mix of established brands and untested plays, and a refocused focus on box-office windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium home window and platforms.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the distribution slate. The genre can kick off on many corridors, offer a tight logline for teasers and shorts, and outstrip with ticket buyers that lean in on previews Thursday and sustain through the second frame if the offering works. On the heels of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 cadence shows belief in that setup. The year rolls out with a weighty January run, then targets spring into early summer for audience offsets, while making space for a fall cadence that runs into late October and into post-Halloween. The program also reflects the tightening integration of indie distributors and platforms that can build gradually, build word of mouth, and expand at the timely point.

An added macro current is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and established properties. Studios are not just producing another next film. They are moving to present brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a brandmark that announces a tonal shift or a talent selection that anchors a latest entry to a early run. At the simultaneously, the directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are championing hands-on technique, makeup and prosthetics and grounded locations. That interplay produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of assurance and freshness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount fires first with two prominent releases that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the focus, presenting it as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character-forward chapter. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the narrative stance indicates a nostalgia-forward treatment without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected rooted in classic imagery, early character teases, and a trailer cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will emphasize. As a summer relief option, this one will hunt general-audience talk through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick reframes to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three discrete strategies. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is tight, grief-rooted, and high-concept: a grieving man purchases an virtual partner that unfolds into a deadly partner. The date lines it up at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to renew uncanny live moments and brief clips that melds longing and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a name unveil to become an fan moment closer to the initial tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. The filmmaker’s films are marketed as auteur events, with a minimalist tease and a follow-up trailer set that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot opens a lane to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a gritty, in-camera leaning strategy can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that click site leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio launches two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, sustaining a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is billing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both fans and new audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around narrative world, and creature builds, elements that can stoke premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror centered on immersive craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate window into copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ordering that expands both FOMO and trial spikes in the later phase. Prime Video interleaves licensed titles with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using in-app campaigns, genre hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival buys, securing horror entries tight to release and making event-like go-lives with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a tiered of limited theatrical footprints and fast windowing that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for sustained usage when the genre conversation builds.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 sequence with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, recalibrated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a standard theatrical run for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the September weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, managing the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the December frame to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for filmmaker-driven genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception merits. Do not be surprised by 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 partners, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Series vs standalone

By tilt, 2026 is weighted toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use marquee value. The caveat, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is leading with character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles provide the air. 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, puts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the team and cast is known enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Recent comps contextualize the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that honored streaming windows did not stop a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot back-to-back, permits marketing to relate entries through character and theme and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

Creative tendencies and craft

The creative meetings behind this slate foreshadow a continued tilt toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that leans on unease and texture rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-true language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a tease that keeps plot minimal, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a self-referential reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster work and world-building, which favor booth activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel irresistible. Look for trailers that highlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that play in premium auditoriums.

Month-by-month map

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heavier IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range 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 set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

End of summer through fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and holiday gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s digital partner mutates into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 abrasive boss claw to survive on a uninhabited island as the control dynamic swivels and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to menace, founded on Cronin’s on-set craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting setup that threads the dread through a youth’s shifting point of view. Rating: to be announced. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A send-up revival that targets today’s horror trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 bursts, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family entangled with past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: pending. Production: active. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and primordial menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why this year, why now

Three hands-on forces organize this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and condensed 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming landings. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage shareable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for wide PLF deployment 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 midrange-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing 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 bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, tight deployments, 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 dimensionality, sound field, and image-making 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.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, distinct 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.