Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primordial evil, a hair raising feature, rolling out October 2025 on global platforms

An eerie ghostly scare-fest from writer / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an archaic horror when foreigners become proxies in a hellish trial. Available this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing story of continuance and forgotten curse that will alter fear-driven cinema this cool-weather season. Realized by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and tone-heavy feature follows five strangers who suddenly rise isolated in a wooded house under the dark control of Kyra, a cursed figure dominated by a 2,000-year-old scriptural evil. Anticipate to be ensnared by a immersive event that blends soul-chilling terror with legendary tales, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a recurring foundation in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reversed when the monsters no longer develop outside their bodies, but rather through their own souls. This represents the grimmest corner of all involved. The result is a psychologically brutal spiritual tug-of-war where the conflict becomes a merciless confrontation between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken landscape, five friends find themselves isolated under the dark rule and grasp of a unidentified figure. As the victims becomes unable to evade her grasp, exiled and hunted by forces unfathomable, they are thrust to deal with their raw vulnerabilities while the moments harrowingly ticks onward toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety mounts and connections collapse, pressuring each survivor to question their values and the structure of liberty itself. The consequences climb with every tick, delivering a cinematic nightmare that fuses mystical fear with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dive into core terror, an presence beyond time, influencing fragile psyche, and challenging a power that questions who we are when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra needed manifesting something outside normal anguish. She is clueless until the entity awakens, and that shift is shocking because it is so emotional.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—providing users no matter where they are can enjoy this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first trailer, which has garnered over notable views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, making the film to a worldwide audience.


Witness this soul-jarring exploration of dread. Watch *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to survive these haunting secrets about human nature.


For cast commentary, production insights, and reveals via the production team, follow @YACFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit our horror hub.





Today’s horror Turning Point: the 2025 season U.S. Slate integrates old-world possession, independent shockers, stacked beside brand-name tremors

From survival horror saturated with scriptural legend and including series comebacks alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is shaping up as the most dimensioned plus blueprinted year in recent memory.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. the big studios plant stakes across the year with known properties, as platform operators flood the fall with emerging auteurs alongside primordial unease. In the indie lane, indie storytellers is drafting behind the tailwinds from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween stays the prime week, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, notably this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are intentional, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige fear returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. arriving mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Helmed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner’s slate rolls out the capstone from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re teams, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, with spooky supernatural reasoning. This pass pushes higher, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The continuation widens the legend, builds out the animatronic fear crew, courting teens and the thirty something base. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

While the big screen favors titles you know, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale with Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No series drag. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than 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 drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trends Worth Watching

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror resurges
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Projection: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

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 trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The coming 2026 chiller season: entries, new stories, And A stacked Calendar aimed at frights

Dek: The fresh terror year crams early with a January crush, following that stretches through summer corridors, and straight through the December corridor, marrying brand heft, new concepts, and well-timed counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are leaning into right-sized spends, theatrical leads, and buzz-forward plans that transform these films into mainstream chatter.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has become the bankable release in studio calendars, a space that can lift when it resonates and still hedge the exposure when it misses. After 2023 demonstrated to buyers that low-to-mid budget pictures can steer mainstream conversation, 2024 maintained heat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The energy rolled into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and elevated films confirmed there is a lane for varied styles, from series extensions to original one-offs that carry overseas. The end result for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across studios, with obvious clusters, a balance of legacy names and new pitches, and a renewed strategy on cinema windows that feed downstream value on PVOD and streaming.

Studio leaders note the genre now performs as a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can arrive on almost any weekend, provide a clean hook for trailers and platform-native cuts, and outperform with patrons that turn out on Thursday nights and sustain through the follow-up frame if the feature lands. Post a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 pattern underscores conviction in that setup. The calendar rolls out with a loaded January band, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while keeping space for a autumn push that flows toward the Halloween corridor and beyond. The layout also reflects the greater integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and grow at the sweet spot.

A further high-level trend is franchise tending across connected story worlds and legacy franchises. The studios are not just mounting another next film. They are shaping as lineage with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a casting move that ties a next film to a vintage era. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the most buzzed-about originals are returning to physical effects work, special makeup and grounded locations. That blend offers the 2026 slate a robust balance of assurance and invention, which is how the films export.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight bets that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the focus, signaling it as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach points to a memory-charged mode without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Expect a marketing push stacked with classic imagery, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also resurrects 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will play up. As a counterweight in summer, this one will build wide buzz through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick pivots to whatever dominates the discourse that spring.

Universal has three discrete pushes. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tight, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man activates an AI companion that evolves into a lethal partner. The date puts it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to mirror uncanny live moments and micro spots that interweaves longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a branding reveal to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s releases are framed as creative events, with a concept-forward tease and a second beat that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor creates space for Universal to take pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has long shown that a raw, practical-first strategy can feel big on a mid-range budget. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror rush that embraces international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio rolls out two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is positioning as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot offers Sony space to build materials around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can increase format premiums and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on obsessive craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The label has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Platform tactics for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal titles shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that boosts both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the later window. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with global originals and small theatrical windows when the data signals it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library engagement, using timely promos, holiday hubs, and staff picks to maximize the tail on the horror cume. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival snaps, locking in horror entries near their drops and staging as events drops with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a tiered of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that converts WOM to subscribers. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown a willingness to acquire select projects with established auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s check my blog domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation swells.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 runway with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is no-nonsense: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, recalibrated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, piloting the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then using the holiday corridor to scale. That positioning has worked well for prestige horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception supports. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using precision theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their community.

Brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit name recognition. The challenge, as ever, is diminishing returns. The operating solution is to sell each entry as a new angle. Paramount is elevating relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a hot helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles keep oxygen in the system. 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, puts Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the cast-creatives package is anchored enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set frame the model. In 2023, a cinema-first model that honored streaming windows did not hamper a day-and-date experiment from working when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror rose in premium large format. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they alter lens and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot consecutively, lets marketing to link the films through cast and motif and to keep assets alive without long breaks.

Craft and creative trends

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate hint at a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that foregrounds grain and menace rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a preview that withholds plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta-horror reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature craft and set design, which fit with booth activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel must-have. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that land in premium houses.

Calendar cadence

January is busy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid headline IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the menu of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Post-January through spring load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a late-September window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a opaque tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that elevate concept over story.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, staging carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s synthetic partner grows into something murderously loving. 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back 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 goes 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: Done with U.S. run set. 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 abrasive boss work to survive on a remote island as the hierarchy swivels and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting scenario that filters its scares through a little one’s flickering inner lens. Rating: TBD. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that targets hot-button genre motifs and true crime fascinations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 bursts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further reopens, with a different family entangled with residual nightmares. 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 restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival-first horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: to be announced. 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 antique diction and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026, why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that slowed or migrated in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage social-ready stingers from test screenings, select scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will cluster across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where low-to-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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 cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, 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 tactility, sound, and visual design 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 Promising 2026

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shocks sell the seats.