Primordial Horror stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, streaming October 2025 across top streamers

A frightening mystic fright fest from literary architect / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an forgotten dread when newcomers become tokens in a demonic struggle. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing tale of continuance and forgotten curse that will reshape scare flicks this season. Realized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and moody tale follows five young adults who find themselves stranded in a wooded dwelling under the hostile dominion of Kyra, a female lead dominated by a prehistoric holy text monster. Get ready to be immersed by a narrative experience that intertwines bodily fright with biblical origins, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demonic control has been a classic motif in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is challenged when the dark entities no longer originate externally, but rather internally. This symbolizes the deepest version of the players. The result is a edge-of-seat identity crisis where the suspense becomes a unforgiving confrontation between right and wrong.


In a desolate natural abyss, five teens find themselves isolated under the malevolent sway and spiritual invasion of a mysterious apparition. As the characters becomes incapacitated to deny her curse, disconnected and stalked by terrors beyond reason, they are pushed to battle their worst nightmares while the clock ruthlessly runs out toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread rises and bonds fracture, requiring each person to examine their values and the principle of liberty itself. The cost intensify with every passing moment, delivering a paranormal ride that combines otherworldly panic with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to evoke instinctual horror, an evil that predates humanity, working through our fears, and testing a power that erodes the self when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra involved tapping into something deeper than fear. She is uninformed until the possession kicks in, and that transformation is eerie because it is so intimate.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for public screening beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—offering streamers globally can enjoy this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its initial teaser, which has received over 100,000 views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, presenting the nightmare to viewers around the world.


Don’t miss this haunted voyage through terror. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to survive these haunting secrets about existence.


For previews, director cuts, and news from those who lived it, follow @YoungAndCursed across online outlets and visit our horror hub.





The horror genre’s watershed moment: calendar year 2025 U.S. lineup braids together primeval-possession lore, indie terrors, together with franchise surges

From endurance-driven terror drawn from old testament echoes and stretching into legacy revivals set beside acutely observed indies, 2025 appears poised to be the most stratified in tandem with precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

Call it full, but it is also focused. the big studios bookend the months through proven series, even as platform operators crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against scriptural shivers. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is carried on the kinetic energy of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, yet in 2025, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are calculated, hence 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a bold swing: a modernized Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Under director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

By late summer, the Warner lot launches the swan song of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma as theme, along with eerie supernatural rules. The stakes escalate here, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, broadens the animatronic terror cast, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It bows in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a close quarters body horror study including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Next comes Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable with Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

The 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. It is a calculated bet. No heavy handed lore. No continuity burden. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, under Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror resurges
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forecast: Fall pileup, winter curveball

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next fear calendar year ahead: follow-ups, Originals, in tandem with A hectic Calendar tailored for chills

Dek The emerging scare cycle lines up at the outset with a January traffic jam, following that carries through June and July, and well into the holiday stretch, marrying brand heft, original angles, and data-minded offsets. Studios and streamers are embracing responsible budgets, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that turn genre releases into national conversation.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has become the predictable release in studio lineups, a pillar that can scale when it hits and still mitigate the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can dominate social chatter, 2024 maintained heat with auteur-driven buzzy films and slow-burn breakouts. The energy carried into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers highlighted there is capacity for multiple flavors, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that play globally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a slate that reads highly synchronized across the market, with defined corridors, a harmony of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a refocused stance on cinema windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium rental and OTT platforms.

Studio leaders note the genre now acts as a wildcard on the distribution slate. The genre can arrive on virtually any date, supply a sharp concept for creative and reels, and exceed norms with audiences that appear on advance nights and sustain through the follow-up frame if the title hits. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration underscores trust in that approach. The slate opens with a stacked January window, then turns to spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a late-year stretch that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and past the holiday. The calendar also illustrates the ongoing integration of specialty arms and OTT outlets that can stage a platform run, generate chatter, and broaden at the proper time.

A companion trend is series management across connected story worlds and storied titles. Studio teams are not just releasing another return. They are trying to present threaded continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a title design that announces a refreshed voice or a star attachment that bridges a new entry to a first wave. At the in tandem, the writer-directors behind the most anticipated originals are embracing tactile craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That convergence yields 2026 a vital pairing of assurance and unexpected turns, which is the formula for international play.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount defines the early cadence with two centerpiece titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the center, presenting it as both a baton pass and a DNA-forward character piece. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the story approach announces a roots-evoking framework without retreading the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. The studio is likely to mount a drive built on classic imagery, character spotlights, and a tiered teaser plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will spotlight. As a counterweight in summer, this one will hunt large awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick adjustments to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three differentiated pushes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is elegant, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an artificial companion that turns into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s marketing likely to echo eerie street stunts and brief clips that threads affection and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a final title to become an fan moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele projects are set up as creative events, with a minimalist tease and a later creative that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The spooky-season slot creates space for Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on 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 leads, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a raw, hands-on effects mix can feel high-value on a mid-range budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror shot that emphasizes international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio mounts two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a trusty supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is describing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both fans and newcomers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build materials around canon, and creature builds, elements that can increase IMAX and PLF uptake and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on obsessive craft and historical speech, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is positive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. The Universal horror run head to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a cadence that amplifies both FOMO and sign-up momentum in the back half. Prime Video pairs licensed films with world buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using curated hubs, holiday hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival grabs, securing horror entries near launch and elevating as drops premieres with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a dual-phase of focused cinema runs 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-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown a willingness to buy select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for monthly activity when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 slate with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, refined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a theatrical rollout for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday dates to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for filmmaker-driven genre with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using small theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Series vs standalone

By proportion, 2026 leans in favor of the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on household recognition. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand erosion. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is horror centering character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the packaging is assuring enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set outline the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept streaming intact did not foreclose a dual release from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, director-craft horror surged in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they reframe POV and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to interlace chapters through character spine and themes and to continue assets in field without hiatuses.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the year’s horror point to a continued emphasis on real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that underscores grain and menace rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a tone piece that withholds plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and spurs shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which align with expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel primary. Look for trailers that highlight surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that benefit on big speakers.

Release calendar overview

January is full. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid marquee brands. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the tone spread affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late winter and spring tee up summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can pop 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 cycled through PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a late-September window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that stress concept over spoilers.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, deliberate rollout, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s artificial companion shifts into something perilously amorous. 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

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 run into a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 demanding boss try to survive on a isolated island as the pecking order tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to fear, rooted in Cronin’s physical craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting piece that pipes the unease through a young child’s wavering subjective lens. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed and celebrity-led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that riffs on hot-button genre motifs and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 global twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family lashed to past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBA. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: pending. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 time-true diction and primal menace. Rating: pending. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 and why now

Three practical forces shape this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or reshuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify bite-size scare clips from test screenings, managed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Calendar math also matters. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will jostle across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where value-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 maximize those pockets. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, soundcraft, and picture 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is IP strength where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shudders sell the seats.