Ancient Malevolence returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This terrifying spectral suspense film from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an long-buried entity when unfamiliar people become conduits in a satanic game. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing chronicle of survival and timeless dread that will remodel genre cinema this ghoul season. Helmed by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and atmospheric cinema piece follows five figures who regain consciousness isolated in a wilderness-bound dwelling under the menacing sway of Kyra, a young woman overtaken by a two-thousand-year-old sacrosanct terror. Be prepared to be hooked by a narrative adventure that merges bone-deep fear with folklore, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a classic narrative in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is subverted when the malevolences no longer originate from an outside force, but rather through their own souls. This echoes the shadowy version of the protagonists. The result is a intense psychological battle where the plotline becomes a unyielding confrontation between right and wrong.


In a abandoned natural abyss, five friends find themselves contained under the possessive effect and possession of a mysterious woman. As the companions becomes incapacitated to evade her manipulation, exiled and tormented by powers inconceivable, they are forced to endure their emotional phantoms while the timeline ruthlessly runs out toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion amplifies and connections erode, urging each character to scrutinize their identity and the idea of free will itself. The stakes intensify with every instant, delivering a scare-fueled ride that integrates spiritual fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to awaken core terror, an force older than civilization itself, manipulating our weaknesses, and dealing with a will that challenges autonomy when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra demanded embodying something more primal than sorrow. She is ignorant until the entity awakens, and that shift is gut-wrenching because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be available for home viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing users around the globe can experience this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first preview, which has racked up over a viral response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, exporting the fear to global fright lovers.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable exploration of dread. Face *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to survive these fearful discoveries about our species.


For sneak peeks, production insights, and reveals from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s sea change: 2025 domestic schedule integrates primeval-possession lore, signature indie scares, plus IP aftershocks

Across pressure-cooker survival tales grounded in scriptural legend as well as franchise returns plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated paired with intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, concurrently digital services prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs plus ancestral chills. On another front, the artisan tier is catching the uplift from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, distinctly in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the base, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s slate starts the year with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Led by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. 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 reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, Warner’s pipeline unveils the final movement inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: old school creep, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It arrives in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Firsts: Tight funds, wide impact

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a tight space body horror vignette anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No puffed out backstory. No IP hangover. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

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

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Series Horror: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, steered 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.

What to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The 2026 terror slate: continuations, Originals, alongside A packed Calendar tailored for jolts

Dek: The new genre season stacks at the outset with a January logjam, subsequently spreads through midyear, and running into the holiday frame, braiding brand heft, new concepts, and strategic release strategy. Major distributors and platforms are committing to smart costs, theatrical leads, and social-fueled campaigns that convert these films into cross-demo moments.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror filmmaking has turned into the steady option in programming grids, a genre that can scale when it connects and still hedge the exposure when it misses. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that mid-range shockers can lead the national conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and surprise hits. The momentum pushed into 2025, where resurrections and prestige plays signaled there is demand for a variety of tones, from series extensions to one-and-done originals that play globally. The upshot for 2026 is a programming that presents tight coordination across players, with planned clusters, a balance of known properties and novel angles, and a sharpened strategy on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and digital services.

Planners observe the category now works like a versatile piece on the programming map. Horror can open on almost any weekend, yield a sharp concept for ad units and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with crowds that show up on first-look nights and stick through the next weekend if the release delivers. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 rhythm telegraphs conviction in that logic. The slate starts with a busy January run, then exploits spring through early summer for contrast, while keeping space for a fall corridor that flows toward the Halloween frame and into post-Halloween. The gridline also highlights the expanded integration of specialized imprints and platforms that can stage a platform run, build word of mouth, and grow at the strategic time.

A parallel macro theme is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just producing another chapter. They are looking to package story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a new vibe or a talent selection that connects a next entry to a first wave. At the alongside this, the filmmakers behind the headline-grabbing originals are returning to physical effects work, real effects and location-forward worlds. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of home base and discovery, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two front-of-slate projects that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the authorial approach indicates a memory-charged approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected leaning on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a tease cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will go after wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three unique releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is clean, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man onboards an AI companion that turns into a harmful mate. The date puts it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to bring back odd public stunts and micro spots that mixes attachment and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a name unveil to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles concentrate elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele titles are positioned as auteur events, with a concept-forward tease and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway lets the studio to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has long shown that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy strategy can feel premium on a moderate cost. Frame it as a hard-R summer horror rush that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio places two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is describing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both devotees and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build materials around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can lift large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and historical speech, this time circling werewolf lore. The imprint has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is strong.

Where the platforms fit in

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run move to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a tiered path that enhances both week-one demand and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video blends acquired titles with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, genre hubs, and featured rows to sustain interest on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays nimble about in-house releases and festival wins, scheduling horror entries on shorter runways and positioning as event drops go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a laddered of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that converts WOM to subscribers. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to take on select projects with award winners or star-led packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 arc 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 clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined 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. The distributor has announced a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the autumn stretch.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, managing the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then working the holiday slot to expand. That positioning has helped for prestige horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception justifies. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using precision theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their community.

Balance of brands and originals

By volume, the 2026 slate tips toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on cultural cachet. The trade-off, as ever, is fatigue. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a buzzed-about director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the bundle is steady enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

Rolling three-year comps announce the model. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from working when the brand was big. In 2024, auteur craft horror punched above its weight in large-format rooms. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they pivot perspective and grow scope. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through relationships and themes and to keep assets in-market without long breaks.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The production chatter behind the year’s horror telegraph a continued lean toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that withholds plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature and environment design, which work nicely for convention floor stunts and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is jammed. 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 foggy reset amid bigger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tone spread opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited teasers that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can win the holiday when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and holiday gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s digital partner escalates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. 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 unyielding boss push to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order turns and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. click to read more Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s hands-on craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting setup that filters its scares through a youth’s wavering subjective view. Rating: to be announced. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed and A-list fronted supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A parody reboot that targets contemporary horror memes and true-crime manias. Rating: undetermined. Production: lensing scheduled 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 breaks out, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family tethered to residual nightmares. Rating: pending. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A reboot designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 time-true diction and ancient menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three nuts-and-bolts forces shape this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest turnkey scare beats from test screenings, metered scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. 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.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

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

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, aural design, and imagery that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is IP strength where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the chills sell the seats.