Age-old Horror awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding feature, bowing Oct 2025 on leading streamers

A chilling spectral horror tale from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an long-buried nightmare when newcomers become tools in a malevolent ritual. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing episode of endurance and mythic evil that will reimagine the horror genre this October. Realized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and emotionally thick fearfest follows five people who awaken trapped in a unreachable cottage under the unfriendly dominion of Kyra, a cursed figure dominated by a biblical-era scriptural evil. Ready yourself to be seized by a theatrical spectacle that fuses bone-deep fear with mystical narratives, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demonic control has been a mainstay motif in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is turned on its head when the presences no longer emerge from a different plane, but rather within themselves. This suggests the haunting version of every character. The result is a enthralling moral showdown where the emotions becomes a soul-crushing push-pull between good and evil.


In a remote backcountry, five youths find themselves trapped under the dark influence and possession of a uncanny apparition. As the youths becomes unresisting to withstand her power, exiled and attacked by beings unnamable, they are made to encounter their core terrors while the clock brutally runs out toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension mounts and bonds dissolve, forcing each figure to contemplate their personhood and the principle of conscious will itself. The intensity grow with every second, delivering a fear-soaked story that connects paranormal dread with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to uncover basic terror, an presence born of forgotten ages, working through emotional fractures, and testing a will that threatens selfhood when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra required summoning something outside normal anguish. She is in denial until the evil takes hold, and that evolution is gut-wrenching because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing horror lovers anywhere can survive this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its original clip, which has pulled in over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, taking the terror to lovers of terror across nations.


Make sure to see this life-altering journey into fear. Watch *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to see these nightmarish insights about inner darkness.


For exclusive trailers, making-of footage, and reveals from inside the story, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit our film’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s watershed moment: 2025 in focus U.S. Slate blends biblical-possession ideas, art-house nightmares, and Franchise Rumbles

Beginning with grit-forward survival fare steeped in near-Eastern lore and extending to IP renewals in concert with acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the most variegated plus deliberate year in years.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Top studios lay down anchors through proven series, at the same time premium streamers crowd the fall with new perspectives plus legend-coded dread. On the festival side, the artisan tier is surfing the afterglow from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The fall stretch is the proving field, but this year, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, and 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a refashioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, instead in a current-day frame. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. timed for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. Pictures delivers the closing chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, with ghostly inner logic. This run ups the stakes, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, speaking to teens and older millennials. It lands in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters lean on names and sequels, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, an intimate body horror unraveling fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a calculated bet. No bloated canon. No canon weight. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Brands: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, 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. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Key Trends

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror resurges
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

What’s Next: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The new genre cycle: follow-ups, universe starters, And A busy Calendar tailored for shocks

Dek: The arriving scare slate loads from the jump with a January wave, and then extends through June and July, and running into the holiday stretch, fusing franchise firepower, new concepts, and shrewd offsets. The major players are betting on smart costs, big-screen-first runs, and influencer-ready assets that transform these pictures into cross-demo moments.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This space has become the sturdy tool in release strategies, a space that can scale when it clicks and still insulate the liability when it doesn’t. After 2023 signaled to greenlighters that disciplined-budget shockers can galvanize pop culture, the following year held pace with filmmaker-forward plays and stealth successes. The upswing fed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and arthouse crossovers made clear there is an opening for varied styles, from series extensions to non-IP projects that carry overseas. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a schedule that is strikingly coherent across the major shops, with intentional bunching, a pairing of known properties and novel angles, and a refocused emphasis on big-screen windows that drive downstream revenue on PVOD and digital services.

Schedulers say the space now works like a swing piece on the schedule. Horror can roll out on many corridors, offer a quick sell for teasers and TikTok spots, and outpace with moviegoers that respond on previews Thursday and hold through the second weekend if the title delivers. Emerging from a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence telegraphs confidence in that logic. The slate kicks off with a weighty January stretch, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a autumn stretch that runs into the Halloween frame and into post-Halloween. The grid also illustrates the ongoing integration of arthouse labels and streaming partners that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and move wide at the timely point.

Another broad trend is brand curation across connected story worlds and classic IP. Major shops are not just turning out another continuation. They are moving to present lineage with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a reframed mood or a casting pivot that threads a fresh chapter to a initial period. At the very same time, the creative teams behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing hands-on technique, special makeup and grounded locations. That alloy produces the 2026 slate a robust balance of home base and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount marks the early tempo with two spotlight pushes that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the center, angling it as both a succession moment and a classic-mode character-centered film. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach telegraphs a fan-service aware bent without rehashing the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, character previews, and a two-beat trailer plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back 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 creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will feature. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek wide buzz through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is clean, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man sets up an AI companion that mutates into a murderous partner. The date slots it at the front of a busy month, with marketing at Universal likely to recreate strange in-person beats and micro spots that interlaces love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio slots an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title reveal to become an headline beat closer to the debut look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. The filmmaker’s films are marketed as must-see filmmaker statements, with a mystery-first teaser and a follow-up trailer set that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The spooky-season slot allows Universal to dominate 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, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a tactile, makeup-driven style can feel premium on a middle budget. Expect a blood-and-grime summer horror surge that leans into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio places two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, continuing a steady supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is billing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both longtime followers and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around mythos, and practical creature work, elements that can boost large-format demand and fandom activation.

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 the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by meticulous craft and language, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus’s team has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s genre entries head to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a sequence that elevates both launch urgency and sign-up momentum in the downstream. Prime Video will mix acquired titles with global acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in deep cuts, using timely promos, seasonal hubs, and collection rows to extend momentum on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about original films and festival snaps, scheduling horror entries closer to drop and turning into events debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a two-step of limited theatrical footprints and swift platform pivots that turns chatter to conversion. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has shown a willingness to secure select projects with name filmmakers or star-driven packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 track with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is uncomplicated: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, refined for modern soundscapes my company and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has signaled a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an healthy marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the October weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through festival season if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday slot to go wider. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-driven genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception supports. Be ready 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 together, using limited runs to ignite evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchise entries versus originals

By number, 2026 bends toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness legacy awareness. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The pragmatic answer is to frame each entry as a new angle. Paramount is spotlighting relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-accented approach from a hot helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps illuminate the approach. In 2023, a exclusive window model that observed windows did not obstruct a same-day experiment from working when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror punched above its weight in premium screens. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga broadcast that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they pivot perspective and raise the stakes. 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 two-film strategy, with chapters shot in tandem, provides the means for marketing to thread films through relationships and themes and to keep assets alive without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The production chatter behind this slate suggest a continued bias toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that spotlights grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and department features before rolling out a initial teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta inflection that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which match well with convention activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that spotlight disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that sing on PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is full. 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 foggy reset amid big-brand pushes. The month closes 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 formidable, but the palette of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

February through May prime the summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now backs 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Back half into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a mystery-first teaser plan and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then turning to 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 add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s algorithmic partner shifts into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: mood-led 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 isolated island as the chain of command swivels and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to fear, founded on Cronin’s practical effects and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting tale that pipes the unease through a preteen’s volatile internal vantage. Rating: TBD. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satirical comeback that needles modern genre fads and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a unlucky family bound to past horrors. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward true survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: undetermined. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 historical diction and primal menace. Rating: TBD. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three operational forces frame this lineup. First, production that stalled or shifted in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more strict 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 landings. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

There is also the slotting calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will line up across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 lean-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 shock 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. 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.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sound, and framing 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 Is Well Positioned

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand power where it counts, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, guard the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.