Antediluvian Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nightmare fueled thriller, streaming October 2025 across global platforms

A chilling unearthly fright fest from writer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an mythic horror when drifters become vehicles in a satanic game. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching account of living through and timeless dread that will resculpt the horror genre this October. Realized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and immersive feature follows five lost souls who awaken trapped in a remote cabin under the ominous influence of Kyra, a female lead consumed by a millennia-old biblical demon. Anticipate to be immersed by a audio-visual presentation that intertwines gut-punch terror with timeless legends, hitting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a mainstay element in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is turned on its head when the beings no longer arise from an outside force, but rather within themselves. This portrays the most sinister facet of the group. The result is a relentless internal warfare where the suspense becomes a perpetual face-off between moral forces.


In a abandoned woodland, five individuals find themselves cornered under the unholy sway and spiritual invasion of a haunted being. As the youths becomes vulnerable to reject her rule, abandoned and targeted by unknowns impossible to understand, they are required to battle their emotional phantoms while the doomsday meter relentlessly moves toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread swells and ties disintegrate, compelling each cast member to doubt their self and the idea of freedom of choice itself. The tension surge with every instant, delivering a nightmarish journey that harmonizes mystical fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to explore pure dread, an entity older than civilization itself, embedding itself in emotional vulnerability, and exposing a spirit that challenges autonomy when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra was centered on something rooted in terror. She is clueless until the spirit seizes her, and that evolution is soul-crushing because it is so emotional.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for home viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering streamers no matter where they are can survive this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its intro video, which has pulled in over six-figure audience.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, exporting the fear to fans of fear everywhere.


Don’t miss this mind-warping path of possession. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these dark realities about our species.


For film updates, filmmaker commentary, and social posts from the cast and crew, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official digital haunt.





The horror genre’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 season domestic schedule weaves biblical-possession ideas, art-house nightmares, alongside returning-series thunder

Ranging from last-stand terror suffused with old testament echoes to legacy revivals together with sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is lining up as the most textured along with intentionally scheduled year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio majors set cornerstones by way of signature titles, even as streamers saturate the fall with unboxed visions plus mythic dread. On the festival side, festival-forward creators is fueled by the uplift of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The fall stretch is the proving field, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are disciplined, and 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

The majors are assertive. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer fades, the Warner lot delivers the closing chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. While the template is known, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This pass pushes higher, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Finishing the tentpole list 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 books December, buttoning the final window.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters lean on names and sequels, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a body horror chamber piece pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn with Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. 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 work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped 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 a calculated bet. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

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

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Signals and Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: Fall stack and winter swing card

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

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



The approaching chiller cycle: brand plays, non-franchise titles, paired with A loaded Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The arriving terror cycle builds right away with a January pile-up, then carries through summer, and straight through the late-year period, marrying marquee clout, new voices, and calculated counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are focusing on efficient budgets, theater-first strategies, and shareable marketing that shape these films into all-audience topics.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror marketplace has established itself as the steady lever in studio lineups, a vertical that can lift when it clicks and still buffer the floor when it underperforms. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that cost-conscious horror vehicles can steer mainstream conversation, the following year held pace with visionary-driven titles and surprise hits. The energy pushed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects confirmed there is capacity for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to one-and-done originals that travel well. The upshot for 2026 is a grid that appears tightly organized across the market, with defined corridors, a equilibrium of household franchises and new packages, and a recommitted commitment on big-screen windows that feed downstream value on premium on-demand and SVOD.

Executives say the genre now acts as a schedule utility on the grid. The genre can open on most weekends, create a quick sell for ad units and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with ticket buyers that appear on first-look nights and keep coming through the week two if the release lands. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 rhythm exhibits trust in that engine. The year rolls out with a front-loaded January schedule, then turns to spring and early summer for contrast, while saving space for a October build that carries into holiday-adjacent weekends and into the next week. The map also underscores the expanded integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can platform a title, generate chatter, and scale up at the precise moment.

Another broad trend is brand curation across interlocking continuities and veteran brands. Big banners are not just pushing another chapter. They are seeking to position lineage with a premium feel, whether that is a title treatment that broadcasts a new vibe or a lead change that links a latest entry to a early run. At the same time, this content the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are leaning into in-camera technique, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That fusion produces the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount establishes early momentum with two high-profile releases that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a origin-leaning character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture points to a classic-referencing treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push stacked with franchise iconography, initial cast looks, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will play up. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build broad awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick redirects to whatever tops the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate strategies. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man activates an digital partner that turns into a perilous partner. The date puts it at the front of a front-loaded month, with Universal’s marketing likely to replay odd public stunts and short reels that melds devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an event moment closer to the initial promo. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are treated as creative events, with a teaser that holds back and a next wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-October frame affords Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, prosthetic-heavy treatment can feel deluxe on a tight budget. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror blast that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio deploys two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, carrying a proven supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the More about the author current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is describing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both fans and general audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build materials around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can increase large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books 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 grounded in meticulous craft and textual fidelity, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus Features has already set the date for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is strong.

Digital platform strategies

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. The studio’s horror films shift to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a stair-step that boosts both initial urgency and viewer acquisition in the tail. Prime Video blends licensed titles with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data points to it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in archive usage, using editorial spots, October hubs, and featured rows to extend momentum on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix films and festival buys, finalizing horror entries tight to release and turning into events debuts with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a paired of limited theatrical footprints and accelerated platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a discrete basis. The platform has signaled readiness to pick up select projects with top-tier auteurs or headline-cast packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 track with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is simple: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere movies that made the original a cult favorite, updated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday slot to open out. That positioning has proved effective for filmmaker-first horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their audience.

Franchise entries versus originals

By share, 2026 leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness name recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is diminishing returns. The operating solution is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is elevating character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and auteur plays provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is anchored enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Comps from the last three years contextualize the method. In 2023, a theater-first model that maintained windows did not hamper a day-date move from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror over-performed in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, enables marketing to relate entries through cast and motif and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Technique and craft currents

The shop talk behind the 2026 slate forecast a continued tilt toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that spotlights texture and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in feature stories and craft features before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature and environment design, which match well with con floor moments and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that work in PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is busy. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid heavier IP. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the tonal variety affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth persists.

Pre-summer months load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a minimalist tease strategy and limited advance reveals that elevate concept over story.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate mutates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 prickly boss struggle to survive on a cut-off island as the chain of command reverses and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s physical craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 home-set haunting scenario that plays with the horror of a child’s tricky point of view. Rating: TBD. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-scale and star-fronted haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime crazes. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 surges, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further extends again, with a fresh family entangled with past horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: TBD. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: to be announced. 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 era-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the moment is 2026

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or recalendared in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming landings. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on clippable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. 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.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, 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 beat and breadth. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor 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 credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sonics, and picture 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 Shapes Up Strong

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, new vision where it lands, 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the gasps sell the seats.