Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens ancient dread, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on global platforms

This eerie paranormal terror film from author / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic dread when foreigners become conduits in a dark conflict. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of perseverance and age-old darkness that will remodel horror this Halloween season. Crafted by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and atmospheric motion picture follows five young adults who are stirred ensnared in a unreachable dwelling under the menacing will of Kyra, a mysterious girl consumed by a antiquated sacrosanct terror. Anticipate to be captivated by a motion picture adventure that blends intense horror with arcane tradition, arriving on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a mainstay concept in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is redefined when the forces no longer emerge from an outside force, but rather through their own souls. This marks the deepest version of these individuals. The result is a gripping emotional conflict where the events becomes a constant clash between moral forces.


In a bleak outland, five young people find themselves caught under the malevolent control and overtake of a unknown woman. As the victims becomes incapacitated to escape her rule, exiled and hunted by forces beyond reason, they are cornered to deal with their soulful dreads while the seconds relentlessly counts down toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion rises and partnerships shatter, coercing each participant to challenge their personhood and the nature of conscious will itself. The consequences grow with every tick, delivering a frightening tale that weaves together otherworldly panic with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to draw upon ancestral fear, an threat from ancient eras, influencing psychological breaks, and examining a entity that redefines identity when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant evoking something outside normal anguish. She is unaware until the entity awakens, and that evolution is eerie because it is so unshielded.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for on-demand beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that households in all regions can face this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its initial teaser, which has seen over 100,000 views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, bringing the film to fans of fear everywhere.


Do not miss this cinematic voyage through terror. Enter *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to witness these evil-rooted truths about the human condition.


For teasers, director cuts, and news directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your favorite networks and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror Turning Point: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate interlaces archetypal-possession themes, underground frights, plus returning-series thunder

Ranging from last-stand terror saturated with ancient scripture and including canon extensions in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the most variegated together with blueprinted year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. leading studios lay down anchors with familiar IP, simultaneously streamers flood the fall with new perspectives in concert with scriptural shivers. At the same time, the artisan tier is propelled by the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, notably this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, which means 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner sets the tone with a headline swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. Under director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. arriving mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate unveils the final movement inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: vintage toned fear, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. The bar is raised this go, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The new chapter enriches the lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, reaching teens and game grownups. It lands in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: No Budget, No Problem

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a room scale body horror descent starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, 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 reads like an autumn stream lock.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale featuring Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. 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. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Franchise Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives 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. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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

Trends Worth Watching

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror reemerges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: 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 including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror cycle: next chapters, Originals, alongside A Crowded Calendar optimized for Scares

Dek: The incoming horror season builds up front with a January bottleneck, then rolls through peak season, and deep into the festive period, weaving name recognition, novel approaches, and tactical alternatives. The big buyers and platforms are relying on responsible budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and shareable marketing that turn these films into all-audience topics.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror filmmaking has grown into the consistent lever in studio lineups, a pillar that can lift when it lands and still protect the drawdown when it underperforms. After the 2023 year re-taught studio brass that efficiently budgeted shockers can galvanize pop culture, the following year maintained heat with buzzy auteur projects and unexpected risers. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers made clear there is a market for different modes, from legacy continuations to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a roster that reads highly synchronized across the field, with defined corridors, a mix of known properties and new concepts, and a reinvigorated stance on theatrical windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the category now serves as a plug-and-play option on the programming map. The genre can bow on virtually any date, generate a quick sell for trailers and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with crowds that lean in on early shows and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the picture fires. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 pattern telegraphs comfort in that logic. The slate starts with a busy January lineup, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a fall cadence that connects to late October and into November. The calendar also shows the deeper integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can stage a platform run, create conversation, and scale up at the timely point.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across linked properties and heritage properties. Studios are not just rolling another chapter. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that connects a incoming chapter to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the Source creative leads behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating physical effects work, special makeup and grounded locations. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a robust balance of comfort and freshness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount fires first with two front-of-slate entries that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the spine, setting it up as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture points to a roots-evoking bent without covering again the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push anchored in legacy iconography, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will spotlight. As a summer relief option, this one will generate broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick redirects to whatever dominates horror talk that spring.

Universal has three unique lanes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is clean, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man activates an AI companion that evolves into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit uncanny live moments and short-cut promos that blurs affection and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a name unveil to become an event moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s releases are set up as director events, with a minimalist tease and a subsequent trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor gives Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has demonstrated that a flesh-and-blood, in-camera leaning method can feel deluxe on a tight budget. Position this as a red-band summer horror shock that spotlights overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, carrying a trusty supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what Sony is presenting as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both diehards and curious audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around lore, and monster aesthetics, elements that can increase premium format interest and fan events.

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 builds on Eggers’ run of period horror built on rigorous craft and dialect, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is warm.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a sequence that amplifies both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video stitches together licensed titles with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data backs it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in archive usage, using featured rows, fright rows, and featured rows to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival acquisitions, locking in horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a staged of precision releases and accelerated platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to take on select projects with established auteurs or star-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is engineering 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 appeal is tight: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, retooled for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the December frame to scale. That positioning has worked well for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception encourages. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using mini theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchises versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate favors the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit marquee value. The watch-out, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is underscoring character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is assuring enough to build pre-sales and early previews.

Comparable trends from recent years illuminate the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not foreclose a hybrid test from succeeding when the brand was powerful. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses 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-film strategy, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to interlace chapters through character spine and themes and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind this slate telegraph a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that elevates grain and menace rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-correct language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft features before rolling out a tone piece that keeps plot minimal, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and drives shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta recalibration that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on monster work and world-building, which fit with convention floor stunts and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel must-have. Look for trailers that underscore fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in big rooms.

How the year maps out

January is full. 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 marquee brands. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the palette of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Late Q1 and spring prime the summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a minimalist tease strategy and limited advance reveals that center concept over reveals.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on my review here a rolling basis as production moves. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s synthetic partner grows into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss try to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power inverts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to chill, rooted in Cronin’s on-set craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting scenario that explores the chill of a child’s unreliable perspective. Rating: rating pending. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-supported and star-led 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 comic send-up that lampoons current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production booked 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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a different family entangled with old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBD. 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 era-accurate language and ancient menace. Rating: TBA. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 and why now

Three operational forces frame this lineup. First, production that decelerated or rearranged in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter schedules. 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate clippable moments from test screenings, controlled scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, 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, soundscape, and camera work 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 Looks Exciting

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand power where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the gasps sell the seats.