Primeval Evil Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding thriller, debuting Oct 2025 on premium platforms

This bone-chilling otherworldly fear-driven tale from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an long-buried dread when unfamiliar people become puppets in a dark game. Premiering October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful tale of survival and primeval wickedness that will reimagine scare flicks this harvest season. Crafted by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and shadowy tale follows five strangers who suddenly rise stranded in a remote cottage under the aggressive will of Kyra, a troubled woman overtaken by a antiquated biblical force. Steel yourself to be gripped by a theatrical ride that weaves together soul-chilling terror with folklore, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a long-standing tradition in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is inverted when the demons no longer come from an outside force, but rather from within. This marks the malevolent element of the victims. The result is a emotionally raw psychological battle where the events becomes a intense fight between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken outland, five figures find themselves trapped under the fiendish rule and haunting of a uncanny character. As the group becomes paralyzed to fight her rule, left alone and targeted by forces beyond reason, they are cornered to wrestle with their worst nightmares while the seconds without pity winds toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust amplifies and bonds crack, coercing each participant to contemplate their character and the integrity of autonomy itself. The threat mount with every minute, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that connects mystical fear with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to tap into instinctual horror, an force born of forgotten ages, manipulating soul-level flaws, and questioning a power that dismantles free will when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra demanded embodying something rooted in terror. She is unaware until the control shifts, and that shift is soul-crushing because it is so personal.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing viewers anywhere can witness this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its initial teaser, which has attracted over notable views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, making the film to viewers around the world.


Make sure to see this life-altering voyage through terror. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to see these haunting secrets about free will.


For teasers, filmmaker commentary, and promotions via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our spooky domain.





U.S. horror’s Turning Point: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate Mixes biblical-possession ideas, indie terrors, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Kicking off with life-or-death fear grounded in mythic scripture to series comebacks alongside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is tracking to be horror’s most layered paired with strategic year since the mid-2010s.

Call it full, but it is also focused. studio powerhouses set cornerstones with known properties, as SVOD players pack the fall with new perspectives set against legend-coded dread. Across the art-house lane, independent banners is fueled by the kinetic energy from a record 2024 festival run. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are precise, as a result 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s schedule kicks off the frame with a statement play: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, in an immediate now. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. targeting mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. From director Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

When summer fades, Warner’s slate rolls out the capstone from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson returns, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retrograde shiver, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It hits in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: No Budget, No Problem

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is an astute call. No heavy handed lore. No continuity burden. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

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

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Key Trends

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall stack and winter swing card

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The oncoming chiller season: installments, Originals, and also A Crowded Calendar aimed at frights

Dek: The emerging scare year lines up from the jump with a January pile-up, after that runs through summer, and far into the winter holidays, combining franchise firepower, original angles, and savvy offsets. Studios with streamers are focusing on efficient budgets, theater-first strategies, and viral-minded pushes that elevate genre releases into cross-demo moments.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror sector has established itself as the bankable lever in studio lineups, a corner that can break out when it hits and still safeguard the risk when it stumbles. After the 2023 year showed strategy teams that mid-range scare machines can shape cultural conversation, 2024 carried the beat with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and critical darlings underscored there is space for varied styles, from returning installments to original features that play globally. The aggregate for 2026 is a grid that looks unusually coordinated across players, with strategic blocks, a balance of familiar brands and novel angles, and a sharpened strategy on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital and home platforms.

Distribution heads claim the space now serves as a versatile piece on the rollout map. The genre can roll out on nearly any frame, supply a grabby hook for trailers and short-form placements, and punch above weight with crowds that lean in on Thursday nights and continue through the second weekend if the film works. In the wake of a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm reflects assurance in that model. The slate kicks off with a stacked January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for balance, while reserving space for a late-year stretch that flows toward All Hallows period and into early November. The gridline also shows the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can grow from platform, generate chatter, and roll out at the proper time.

A second macro trend is series management across unified worlds and legacy franchises. Major shops are not just mounting another continuation. They are seeking to position ongoing narrative with a specialness, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a fresh attitude or a casting move that bridges a incoming chapter to a classic era. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are returning to tactile craft, in-camera effects and location-forward worlds. That pairing yields 2026 a smart balance of recognition and invention, which is why the genre exports well.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount fires first 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 lead and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a relay and a foundation-forward character-first story. Production is active in Atlanta, and the directional approach suggests a heritage-honoring angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign centered on signature symbols, intro reveals, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will feature. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase wide buzz through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format fitting quick pivots to whatever tops the social talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete pushes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is simple, grief-rooted, and big-hook: a grieving man adopts an algorithmic mate that mutates into a lethal partner. The date slots it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to replay off-kilter promo beats and micro spots that melds longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a official title to become an attention spike closer to the first trailer. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles Check This Out crowd different corridors.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are marketed as creative events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-month date gives the studio room to fill 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has established that a raw, hands-on effects treatment can feel high-value on a middle budget. Expect a hard-R summer horror shot that pushes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio books two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a proven supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is describing as a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign creative around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can drive premium screens and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror centered on textural authenticity and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus’s team has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is positive.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform tactics for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries land on copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a sequence that elevates both premiere heat and trial spikes in the back half. Prime Video continues to mix catalogue additions with world buys and short theatrical plays when the data signals it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library pulls, using editorial spots, October hubs, and curated rows to sustain interest on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays opportunistic about in-house releases and festival buys, scheduling horror entries tight to release and eventizing go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a tiered of focused cinema runs and quick platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has signaled readiness to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for retention when the genre conversation builds.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is structuring a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is clear: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, recalibrated for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, marshalling the project through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday slot to scale. That positioning has proved effective for director-led genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception justifies. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By number, the 2026 slate favors the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness marquee value. The challenge, as ever, is audience fatigue. The go-to fix is to sell each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is foregrounding character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-tinted vision from a emerging director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-first projects provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the deal build is grounded enough to build pre-sales and Thursday previews.

The last three-year set illuminate the model. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that held distribution windows did not block a parallel release from thriving when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror rose in PLF. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reframe POV 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 double feature plan, with chapters shot consecutively, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character web and themes and to sustain campaign assets without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind this slate hint at a continued preference for hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes tone and tension rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with Source the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in trade spotlights and guild coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that withholds plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-aware reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature and environment design, which match well with fan-con activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that highlight disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that shine in top rooms.

Month-by-month map

January is busy. 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 somber counterpoint amid headline IP. The month winds down with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the mix of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 prime the summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds 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 light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil follows September 18, a early fall window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a opaque tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s virtual companion mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges 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 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: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 unyielding boss fight to survive on a isolated island as the power balance inverts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, driven by Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting premise that twists the dread of a child’s tricky point of view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-crafted and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

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 parody return that pokes at in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 ignites, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family caught in past horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and elemental dread. Rating: pending. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three workable forces inform this lineup. First, production that paused or shuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest repeatable beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will line up across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a sampler, 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 gets blood-slick, 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 sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, aural design, 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.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.