Age-old Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across major platforms

An unnerving metaphysical terror film from dramatist / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primeval evil when unrelated individuals become victims in a demonic struggle. Available on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing depiction of resilience and primeval wickedness that will reshape fear-driven cinema this cool-weather season. Directed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and claustrophobic cinema piece follows five strangers who regain consciousness locked in a off-grid wooden structure under the ominous sway of Kyra, a troubled woman possessed by a millennia-old sacred-era entity. Prepare to be shaken by a immersive outing that intertwines soul-chilling terror with biblical origins, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a historical element in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is redefined when the spirits no longer descend from beyond, but rather from deep inside. This represents the grimmest layer of the players. The result is a harrowing cognitive warzone where the events becomes a constant conflict between right and wrong.


In a haunting forest, five young people find themselves marooned under the malevolent rule and overtake of a unknown person. As the survivors becomes powerless to resist her command, left alone and tracked by presences beyond reason, they are cornered to face their inner demons while the countdown relentlessly ticks toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease rises and links collapse, pushing each protagonist to scrutinize their values and the idea of personal agency itself. The intensity surge with every fleeting time, delivering a chilling narrative that integrates ghostly evil with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to evoke pure dread, an darkness rooted in antiquity, manifesting in emotional vulnerability, and confronting a curse that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra involved tapping into something beneath mortal despair. She is unaware until the spirit seizes her, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for public screening beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that households across the world can engage with this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its intro video, which has gathered over 100K plays.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, bringing the film to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this gripping trip into the unknown. Experience *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to confront these evil-rooted truths about our species.


For teasers, set experiences, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across online outlets and visit our horror hub.





American horror’s major pivot: the 2025 season U.S. lineup weaves Mythic Possession, festival-born jolts, paired with series shake-ups

Across endurance-driven terror grounded in scriptural legend and stretching into returning series set beside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated paired with intentionally scheduled year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year with established lines, concurrently streaming platforms saturate the fall with first-wave breakthroughs together with archetypal fear. Meanwhile, the artisan tier is drafting behind the afterglow of a peak 2024 circuit. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The fall stretch is the proving field, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are disciplined, which means 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 accelerates.

Universal sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, but a crisp modern milieu. Led by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. set for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer eases, Warner’s slate drops the final chapter from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Despite a known recipe, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson is back, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: nostalgic menace, trauma centered writing, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. 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 bloated mythology. No IP hangover. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Signals and Trends

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Big screen is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

What’s Next: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 scare release year: entries, universe starters, alongside A packed Calendar tailored for jolts

Dek: The current scare cycle stacks in short order with a January wave, then flows through midyear, and straight through the holiday frame, mixing series momentum, untold stories, and strategic counterprogramming. Studios with streamers are leaning into mid-range economics, exclusive theatrical windows first, and platform-native promos that shape horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror has solidified as the bankable option in studio lineups, a segment that can expand when it resonates and still limit the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 proved to studio brass that modestly budgeted genre plays can lead pop culture, 2024 sustained momentum with visionary-driven titles and slow-burn breakouts. The trend flowed into 2025, where reawakened brands and critical darlings underscored there is a market for a spectrum, from franchise continuations to standalone ideas that export nicely. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a calendar that appears tightly organized across distributors, with clear date clusters, a spread of household franchises and new concepts, and a tightened emphasis on release windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and digital services.

Marketers add the horror lane now behaves like a fill-in ace on the release plan. The genre can kick off on most weekends, create a clear pitch for previews and short-form placements, and outperform with ticket buyers that come out on advance nights and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the film satisfies. In the wake of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan shows assurance in that engine. The slate starts with a heavy January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a fall corridor that carries into the fright window and beyond. The calendar also features the increasing integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and go nationwide at the inflection point.

Another broad trend is brand management across shared universes and legacy franchises. The companies are not just releasing another continuation. They are aiming to frame ongoing narrative with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a ensemble decision that reconnects a latest entry to a early run. At the meanwhile, the creative leads behind the most buzzed-about originals are celebrating real-world builds, on-set effects and specific settings. That pairing offers 2026 a confident blend of comfort and novelty, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount sets the tone early with two front-of-slate plays that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the spine, framing it as both a lineage transfer and a back-to-basics character-focused installment. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach announces a heritage-honoring treatment without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Expect a marketing push driven by iconic art, initial cast looks, and a promo sequence hitting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will spotlight. As a summer contrast play, this one will chase mainstream recognition through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format enabling quick adjustments to whatever defines the conversation that spring.

Universal has three defined projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is elegant, grief-rooted, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man sets up an digital partner that grows into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s promo team likely to recreate uncanny-valley stunts and short-cut promos that blurs companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a official title to become an PR pop closer to the teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as filmmaker events, with a opaque teaser and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor offers Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has established that a tactile, practical-first aesthetic can feel top-tier on a tight budget. Frame it as a red-band summer horror rush that pushes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio deploys two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a bankable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is billing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both longtime followers and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build assets around universe detail, and creature work, elements that can stoke large-format demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror defined by historical precision and period language, this time set against lycan legends. The label has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is robust.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform strategies for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre entries shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a tiered path that enhances both opening-weekend urgency and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video blends library titles with cross-border buys and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using seasonal hubs, horror hubs, and curated rows to extend momentum on the 2026 genre total. Netflix retains agility about first-party entries and festival snaps, dating horror entries near launch and eventizing rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a paired of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that translates talk to trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a curated basis. The platform has indicated interest to invest in select projects with recognized filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 pipeline with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is simple: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, reimagined for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the December frame to go wider. That positioning has paid off for prestige horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize 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 surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using boutique theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Franchise entries versus originals

By weight, the 2026 slate favors the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage legacy awareness. The caveat, as ever, is viewer burnout. The workable fix is to package each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the packaging is assuring enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent-year comps illuminate the plan. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that preserved streaming windows did not block a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in PLF. In 2025, horror a return of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters shot in tandem, permits marketing to relate entries through relationships and themes and to keep materials circulating without long breaks.

How the films are being made

The shop talk behind these films indicate a continued preference for physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights tone and tension rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in long-lead features and department features before rolling out a tone piece that keeps plot minimal, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for red-band excess, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and gathers shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta-horror reset that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature craft and set design, which fit with con floor moments and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is packed. 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 brooding contrast amid headline IP. The month concludes 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 credible, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit 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 finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film takes October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited advance reveals that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s artificial companion becomes something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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 stumble upon a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: ambience-forward adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her prickly boss push to survive on a desolate island as the power balance of power inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to terror, rooted in Cronin’s tactile craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting piece that frames the panic through a preteen’s flickering subjective view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fascinations. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family snared by past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-driven horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-precise speech and primordial menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces organize this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more structured 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 placements. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, managed scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, making room for genre entries that can control a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will line up across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The sleeper-hit hunt 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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns 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 preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, smart allocations, 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 dimensionality, 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.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is recognizable IP where it plays, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, protect the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.