Primeval Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, debuting Oct 2025 across major platforms

An frightening paranormal suspense film from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an ancient curse when unrelated individuals become tools in a devilish maze. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping tale of resistance and mythic evil that will reshape the fear genre this scare season. Helmed by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and cinematic thriller follows five individuals who snap to stuck in a far-off hideaway under the ominous power of Kyra, a troubled woman overtaken by a 2,000-year-old religious nightmare. Arm yourself to be ensnared by a visual outing that weaves together bodily fright with spiritual backstory, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a legendary element in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is challenged when the fiends no longer develop beyond the self, but rather internally. This echoes the most hidden element of the players. The result is a edge-of-seat cognitive warzone where the tension becomes a brutal confrontation between moral forces.


In a bleak wild, five teens find themselves stuck under the possessive dominion and overtake of a unidentified being. As the group becomes incapable to escape her will, marooned and followed by forces unnamable, they are driven to deal with their inner demons while the clock brutally ticks toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion amplifies and ties splinter, requiring each participant to reflect on their core and the idea of conscious will itself. The consequences mount with every minute, delivering a fear-soaked story that integrates occult fear with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to explore instinctual horror, an power beyond recorded history, feeding on emotional vulnerability, and examining a will that tests the soul when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant channeling something far beyond human desperation. She is uninformed until the possession kicks in, and that flip is soul-crushing because it is so visceral.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for digital release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—making sure customers across the world can watch this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its first trailer, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Join this heart-stopping exploration of dread. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these fearful discoveries about human nature.


For director insights, special features, and updates from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across entertainment pages and visit our spooky domain.





Horror’s watershed moment: calendar year 2025 U.S. calendar braids together primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, in parallel with tentpole growls

Across endurance-driven terror drawn from primordial scripture and stretching into installment follow-ups plus pointed art-house angles, 2025 is coalescing into the richest in tandem with carefully orchestrated year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios set cornerstones with known properties, at the same time digital services front-load the fall with debut heat alongside scriptural shivers. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is fueled by the backdraft from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, and in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are precise, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium dread reemerges

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal lights the fuse with a big gambit: a refashioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a sharp contemporary setting. With Leigh Whannell at the helm with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Under Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner Bros. launches the swan song from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. This time the stakes climb, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, grows the animatronic horror lineup, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Slim budgets, major punch

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a body horror duet led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

On the docket is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable starring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

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.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 looks like sharp programming. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Series Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror resurges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

The Road Ahead: Fall stack and winter swing card

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching chiller slate: continuations, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The brand-new horror slate loads early with a January wave, before it flows through midyear, and running into the holidays, balancing franchise firepower, inventive spins, and tactical counterprogramming. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that elevate these films into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has shown itself to be the most reliable swing in release plans, a vertical that can surge when it resonates and still hedge the losses when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year reassured greenlighters that mid-range shockers can command the national conversation, the following year kept energy high with auteur-driven buzzy films and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam fed into the 2025 frame, where returns and awards-minded projects confirmed there is space for varied styles, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that play globally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a roster that is strikingly coherent across the field, with obvious clusters, a pairing of legacy names and original hooks, and a recommitted emphasis on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on premium digital and home streaming.

Planners observe the category now operates like a utility player on the rollout map. Horror can roll out on many corridors, generate a grabby hook for teasers and short-form placements, and lead with viewers that show up on previews Thursday and return through the subsequent weekend if the picture pays off. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 rhythm reflects trust in that playbook. The year launches with a thick January window, then primes spring and early summer for balance, while leaving room for a October build that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and past Halloween. The calendar also reflects the greater integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and widen at the optimal moment.

A parallel macro theme is franchise tending across ongoing universes and established properties. Major shops are not just making another next film. They are working to present continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that conveys a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that connects a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating hands-on technique, on-set effects and specific settings. That pairing delivers 2026 a vital pairing of home base and surprise, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount establishes early momentum with two prominent titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the front, signaling it as both a handoff and a DNA-forward character-centered film. Production is active in Atlanta, and the story approach indicates a nostalgia-forward framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Watch for a push rooted in signature symbols, intro reveals, and a tease cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will play up. As a summer alternative, this one will pursue four-quadrant chatter through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick shifts to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three specific lanes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is straightforward, soulful, and easily pitched: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that becomes a dangerous lover. The date positions it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s marketing likely to recreate off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that blurs attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a branding reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s work are framed as marquee events, with a minimalist tease and a second trailer wave that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween runway opens a lane to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has consistently shown that a gnarly, in-camera leaning mix can feel high-value on a mid-range budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that centers worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is framing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both fans and first-timers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build assets around environmental design, and monster design, elements that can increase format premiums and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes 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 defined by rigorous craft and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The specialty arm has already locked the day for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is supportive.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films flow to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that boosts both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video stitches together third-party pickups with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using featured rows, seasonal hubs, and programmed rows to increase tail value on overall cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival grabs, scheduling horror entries with shorter lead times and framing as events arrivals with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of targeted cinema placements 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 relying on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has indicated interest to buy select projects with acclaimed directors or celebrity-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for platform stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is clean: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a standard theatrical run for the title, an good sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception allows. Do not be surprised by 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 together, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchises versus originals

By count, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate fan equity. The potential drawback, as ever, is viewer burnout. The go-to fix is to brand each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is elevating character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a fresh helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the bundle is grounded enough to spark pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Rolling three-year comps frame the template. In 2023, a theater-first model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a dual release from paying off when the brand was trusted. In 2024, director-craft horror rose in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they rotate perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, lets marketing to thread films through character web and themes and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind these films telegraph a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that leans on grain and menace rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and generates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta pivot that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which favor booth activations and guarded Get More Info reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar cadence

January is packed. 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 foggy reset amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the tone spread lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Early-year through spring tee up summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited information drops that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects 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 widowed man’s synthetic partner turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss battle to survive on a lonely island as the chain of command turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to fear, founded on Cronin’s hands-on craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting tale that leverages the fear of a child’s fragile senses. Rating: TBA. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that teases contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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: pending. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family snared by long-buried horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: pending. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and primordial menace. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 and why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify bite-size scare clips from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, providing runway for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

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

The dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 somber, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, optimized footprints, 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 texture, audio design, 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.

2026, Ready To Roar

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the chills sell the seats.