Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a hair raising feature, launching October 2025 across top digital platforms

This hair-raising occult fright fest from writer / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an archaic terror when guests become vehicles in a fiendish ordeal. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a intense chronicle of struggle and old world terror that will revamp the fear genre this spooky time. Guided by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and tone-heavy screenplay follows five individuals who regain consciousness imprisoned in a cut-off wooden structure under the ominous command of Kyra, a possessed female haunted by a biblical-era biblical force. Get ready to be captivated by a theatrical ride that intertwines bodily fright with mythic lore, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a long-standing theme in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is inverted when the spirits no longer come beyond the self, but rather within themselves. This symbolizes the haunting aspect of the cast. The result is a enthralling mind game where the plotline becomes a unforgiving confrontation between righteousness and malevolence.


In a abandoned forest, five friends find themselves cornered under the possessive influence and possession of a unknown female figure. As the youths becomes paralyzed to withstand her curse, marooned and followed by presences inconceivable, they are driven to reckon with their greatest panics while the hours coldly strikes toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust mounts and partnerships implode, forcing each figure to reconsider their true nature and the nature of independent thought itself. The intensity magnify with every heartbeat, delivering a fear-soaked story that weaves together supernatural terror with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to evoke ancestral fear, an darkness that existed before mankind, manifesting in inner turmoil, and examining a force that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra required summoning something unfamiliar to reason. She is unseeing until the entity awakens, and that transition is harrowing because it is so intimate.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—allowing audiences anywhere can experience this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its first preview, which has received over massive response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, offering the tale to fans of fear everywhere.


Witness this unforgettable path of possession. Face *Young & Cursed* this launch day to confront these haunting secrets about existence.


For teasers, on-set glimpses, and news from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your socials and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s sea change: 2025 for genre fans U.S. rollouts braids together legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, together with legacy-brand quakes

Running from last-stand terror drawn from old testament echoes as well as returning series in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 is lining up as the most complex and precision-timed year in recent memory.

Call it full, but it is also focused. top-tier distributors lock in tentpoles using marquee IP, as OTT services front-load the fall with discovery plays as well as ancestral chills. On another front, independent banners is surfing the carry of a banner 2024 fest year. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. The fall stretch is the proving field, distinctly in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, which means 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s pipeline begins the calendar with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. arriving mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Led by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner Bros. banner 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 installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson returns, and the tone that worked before is intact: old school creep, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, grows the animatronic horror lineup, courting teens and the thirty something base. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror chamber piece including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative led by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: 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, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. 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. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one burrows toward 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 platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a calculated bet. No overstuffed canon. No franchise baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

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

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, with Francis Lawrence directing, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
The likes of Together, Weapons, and Keeper reshift toward flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. 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. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The coming 2026 fright calendar year ahead: Sequels, original films, together with A stacked Calendar calibrated for jolts

Dek: The emerging genre season clusters immediately with a January traffic jam, from there unfolds through peak season, and deep into the year-end corridor, braiding series momentum, new concepts, and strategic release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are relying on responsible budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that transform these pictures into national conversation.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The horror sector has established itself as the surest swing in studio calendars, a lane that can spike when it lands and still protect the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that efficiently budgeted shockers can galvanize pop culture, the following year held pace with buzzy auteur projects and unexpected risers. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where revivals and festival-grade titles demonstrated there is a lane for a variety of tones, from continued chapters to one-and-done originals that export nicely. The result for 2026 is a schedule that presents tight coordination across the field, with defined corridors, a mix of familiar brands and original hooks, and a recommitted emphasis on exclusive windows that fuel later windows on premium rental and home platforms.

Buyers contend the genre now functions as a utility player on the distribution slate. The genre can debut on a wide range of weekends, deliver a quick sell for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with viewers that arrive on Thursday nights and keep coming through the sophomore frame if the title lands. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 layout shows faith in that setup. The calendar gets underway with a stacked January band, then exploits spring through early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a late-year stretch that runs into holiday-adjacent weekends and into the next week. The program also underscores the stronger partnership of specialized labels and platforms that can platform and widen, spark evangelism, and expand at the optimal moment.

Another broad trend is brand curation across linked properties and long-running brands. Studios are not just releasing another sequel. They are seeking to position connection with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a reframed mood or a casting pivot that binds a new installment to a vintage era. At the in tandem, the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating physical effects work, real effects and location-forward worlds. That fusion provides the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and freshness, which is how the films export.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount fires first with two big-ticket pushes that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a handoff and a return-to-roots character piece. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a memory-charged approach without looping the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Anticipate a campaign stacked with iconic art, early character teases, and a rollout cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will foreground. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three specific strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an machine companion that mutates into a harmful mate. The date locates it at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to echo strange in-person beats and short reels that fuses romance and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an earned moment 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 takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. His projects are treated as creative events, with a teaser that reveals little and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame allows Universal to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has established that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel big on a disciplined budget. Position this as a red-band summer horror rush that emphasizes international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, sustaining a evergreen supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is billing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build assets around environmental design, and monster design, elements that can increase premium screens and fan-culture participation.

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 follows Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate feed copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a tiered path that fortifies both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the post-theatrical. Prime Video stitches together licensed titles with global acquisitions and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in deep cuts, using prominent placements, Halloween hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about original films and festival buys, locking in horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a one-two of limited theatrical footprints 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 using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to board select projects with award winners or name-led packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof 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 spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 track with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is clean: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, refined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the back half.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then working the year-end corridor to widen. That positioning has delivered for filmmaker-driven genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their audience.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, 2026 leans in favor of the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is audience fatigue. The practical approach is to package each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French sensibility from a fresh helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Originals and director-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the cast-creatives package is known enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Recent-year comps announce the playbook. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that observed windows did not deter a day-date move from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror rose in premium formats. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they rotate perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to link the films through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without pause points.

Technique and craft currents

The filmmaking conversations behind the upcoming entries foreshadow a continued tilt toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a preview that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-aware reset that centers an original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which are ideal for booth activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that shine in top rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is packed. Universal’s 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 gloomy counterbalance amid marquee brands. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the menu of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm my review here and limited teasers that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can win the holiday when packaged as auteur prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s intelligent companion grows into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: atmospheric game 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 severe boss try to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic reverses and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s tactile craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting setup that threads the dread through a minor’s shifting POV. Rating: rating pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody return that satirizes hot-button genre motifs and true-crime manias. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production 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: to be announced. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new household caught in returning horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-driven horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: pending. Production: underway. 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 antique diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces define this lineup. First, production that paused or recalendared in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and tighter 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming landings. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage clippable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, clearing runway for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead this content 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 lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, acoustics, and cinematography 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 Robust 2026 On Deck

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand power where it counts, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.