Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a spine tingling feature, launching October 2025 across leading streamers

An frightening metaphysical nightmare movie from literary architect / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an prehistoric nightmare when outsiders become victims in a dark trial. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping depiction of living through and primeval wickedness that will reconstruct the fear genre this ghoul season. Produced by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie motion picture follows five individuals who are stirred isolated in a unreachable cabin under the dark control of Kyra, a mysterious girl controlled by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Get ready to be shaken by a audio-visual event that merges gut-punch terror with ancestral stories, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a historical trope in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the monsters no longer develop from an outside force, but rather from their psyche. This marks the darkest shade of each of them. The result is a bone-chilling moral showdown where the tension becomes a constant fight between innocence and sin.


In a isolated no-man's-land, five individuals find themselves isolated under the unholy aura and overtake of a unknown female figure. As the characters becomes powerless to evade her dominion, cut off and preyed upon by presences mind-shattering, they are obligated to face their worst nightmares while the countdown unceasingly edges forward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust amplifies and partnerships break, pushing each individual to evaluate their identity and the concept of volition itself. The risk amplify with every beat, delivering a terror ride that merges spiritual fright with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to tap into primal fear, an darkness rooted in antiquity, feeding on inner turmoil, and wrestling with a presence that erodes the self when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra meant channeling something rooted in terror. She is innocent until the spirit seizes her, and that flip is terrifying because it is so visceral.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering users internationally can watch this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has racked up over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, giving access to the movie to international horror buffs.


Be sure to catch this cinematic trip into the unknown. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For exclusive trailers, set experiences, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursed across your socials and visit the movie portal.





Today’s horror Turning Point: the 2025 cycle U.S. release slate weaves myth-forward possession, Indie Shockers, set against Franchise Rumbles

Across grit-forward survival fare drawn from scriptural legend and including franchise returns and focused festival visions, 2025 is lining up as the most stratified as well as tactically planned year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. Major studios stabilize the year by way of signature titles, in parallel streaming platforms crowd the fall with fresh voices together with mythic dread. On the festival side, the independent cohort is buoyed by the kinetic energy of a peak 2024 circuit. Since Halloween is the prized date, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are methodical, so 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: High-craft horror returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s distribution arm lights the fuse with a risk-forward move: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, inside today’s landscape. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer wanes, Warner’s slate sets loose the finale within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. While the template is known, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re boards, and the memorable motifs return: period tinged dread, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The next entry deepens the tale, grows the animatronic horror lineup, reaching teens and game grownups. It hits in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a sealed box body horror arc anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale with Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No overweight mythology. 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 Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

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 introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Brands: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Trend Lines

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

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

Originals on platforms bite harder
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The approaching terror calendar year ahead: entries, Originals, as well as A stacked Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The current horror cycle builds right away with a January logjam, subsequently extends through the summer months, and deep into the winter holidays, combining name recognition, untold stories, and smart counterweight. The major players are relying on right-sized spends, box-office-first windows, and platform-native promos that shape horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

Horror momentum into 2026

The genre has become the sturdy option in studio calendars, a lane that can expand when it performs and still buffer the downside when it underperforms. After 2023 reassured top brass that mid-range scare machines can drive cultural conversation, 2024 kept energy high with signature-voice projects and quiet over-performers. The run extended into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and premium-leaning entries highlighted there is capacity for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to original one-offs that resonate abroad. The takeaway for the 2026 slate is a roster that reads highly synchronized across companies, with purposeful groupings, a combination of established brands and untested plays, and a sharpened focus on theatrical windows that drive downstream revenue on PVOD and streaming.

Executives say the category now operates like a utility player on the release plan. Horror can arrive on virtually any date, yield a clean hook for spots and reels, and outperform with moviegoers that appear on previews Thursday and hold through the next pass if the feature lands. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 configuration underscores conviction in that model. The year kicks off with a busy January band, then exploits spring through early summer for counterprogramming, while making space for a October build that flows toward the Halloween corridor and into November. The layout also underscores the expanded integration of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can grow from platform, ignite recommendations, and go nationwide at the precise moment.

A companion trend is brand curation across unified worlds and legacy IP. Studio teams are not just producing another sequel. They are moving to present connection with a occasion, whether that is a logo package that indicates a tonal shift or a ensemble decision that links a new entry to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the most watched originals are favoring on-set craft, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That interplay hands the 2026 slate a robust balance of trust and discovery, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile pushes that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the center, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a classic-mode character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a roots-evoking bent without going over the last two entries’ sisters thread. Expect a marketing push rooted in legacy iconography, character spotlights, and a promo sequence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will play up. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build broad awareness through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format supporting quick adjustments to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three specific pushes. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is tidy, somber, and big-hook: a grieving man implements an algorithmic mate that turns into a deadly partner. The date places it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to mirror creepy live activations and bite-size content that interweaves longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a branding reveal to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His entries are framed as creative events, with a concept-forward tease and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The spooky-season slot lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 helms, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a gnarly, makeup-driven aesthetic can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Expect a blood-and-grime summer horror shot that centers overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is positioning 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 mission to serve both longtime followers and general audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build marketing units around universe detail, and creature builds, elements that can increase large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins 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 centered on careful craft and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. The distributor has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is favorable.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform windowing in 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run transition to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ordering that elevates both week-one demand and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with world buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library curation, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and curated rows to sustain interest on 2026 genre cume. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival additions, dating horror entries toward the drop and making event-like debuts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a two-step of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that drives paid trials from buzz. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to acquire select projects with established auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for platform stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is tight: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, recalibrated for modern audio and picture. 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 indicated a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through select festivals if the cut is ready, then using the Christmas window to broaden. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception drives. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using select theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Brands and originals

By skew, 2026 favors the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is audience fatigue. The operating solution is to market each entry as a new angle. Paramount is leading with character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-tinted vision from a emerging director. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the bundle is comforting enough to drive advance ticketing and preview-night crowds.

The last three-year set outline the template. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not prevent a parallel release from delivering when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. 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 two-step approach, with chapters shot consecutively, permits marketing to tie installments through personae and themes and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror signal a continued bias toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that leans on grain and menace rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with click site a medieval world and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in deep-dive features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at practical nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta refresh that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in booth activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is jammed. 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 somber counterpoint amid big-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the mix of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Pre-summer months set up the summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

End of summer through fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a late-September window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can win the holiday when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and gift-card use.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks 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 devastated man’s AI companion grows into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 demanding boss claw to survive on a rugged island as the pecking order tilts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, 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 household haunting piece that channels the fear through a minor’s wavering POV. Rating: pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-supported and headline-actor led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that targets current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: undetermined. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 erupts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new household bound to returning horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of 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: pending. Logline: A new start designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward pure survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBD. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and primal menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the moment is 2026

Three practical forces drive this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and pared-down 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can command a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will share space across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 press those advantages. 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns 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 icy, 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 sequence upward, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound field, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Ready To Roar

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is name recognition where it counts, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, protect the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.