Antediluvian Dread Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked supernatural thriller, launching October 2025 across global platforms

An terrifying paranormal shockfest from cinematographer / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an timeless fear when unfamiliar people become tokens in a satanic ceremony. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving account of struggle and ancient evil that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this spooky time. Brought to life by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and claustrophobic tale follows five people who come to trapped in a far-off shelter under the menacing will of Kyra, a cursed figure inhabited by a antiquated holy text monster. Arm yourself to be seized by a immersive experience that weaves together gut-punch terror with arcane tradition, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a mainstay pillar in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is subverted when the entities no longer arise beyond the self, but rather inside them. This marks the malevolent corner of each of them. The result is a harrowing cognitive warzone where the suspense becomes a unforgiving clash between light and darkness.


In a unforgiving wilderness, five campers find themselves imprisoned under the fiendish control and spiritual invasion of a unidentified being. As the group becomes submissive to withstand her will, left alone and tormented by beings beyond comprehension, they are driven to stand before their worst nightmares while the clock without pity edges forward toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust escalates and teams collapse, pushing each survivor to examine their character and the foundation of self-determination itself. The threat rise with every instant, delivering a cinematic nightmare that intertwines demonic fright with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to extract instinctual horror, an presence beyond recorded history, influencing our weaknesses, and examining a spirit that threatens selfhood when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra meant channeling something outside normal anguish. She is insensitive until the evil takes hold, and that change is harrowing because it is so visceral.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that users internationally can dive into this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has gathered over strong viewer count.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, spreading the horror to thrill-seekers globally.


Make sure to see this heart-stopping descent into darkness. Experience *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to survive these fearful discoveries about the human condition.


For cast commentary, extra content, and news from the story's source, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across platforms and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror inflection point: 2025 for genre fans U.S. release slate blends primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, and franchise surges

Beginning with last-stand terror drawn from legendary theology and including installment follow-ups together with acutely observed indies, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered together with carefully orchestrated year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios plant stakes across the year with familiar IP, in parallel subscription platforms crowd the fall with unboxed visions and primordial unease. At the same time, horror’s indie wing is surfing the uplift of a peak 2024 circuit. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the other windows are mapped with care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, and in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are surgical, so 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s distribution arm starts the year with a statement play: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Under director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. arriving mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Guided by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer wanes, the Warner Bros. banner rolls out the capstone from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson re engages, and those signature textures resurface: 70s style chill, trauma as text, paired with unsettling supernatural order. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, stretches the animatronic parade, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It posts in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written 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 the dark, her reach grows, a parasitic force exploiting fears, flaws, and shame.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It looks like sharp programming. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

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 bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Heritage Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

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.

Dials to Watch

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

Body horror swings back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. 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 trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The approaching scare release year: continuations, original films, plus A hectic Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The brand-new horror year crowds from the jump with a January cluster, then runs through June and July, and continuing into the winter holidays, mixing marquee clout, creative pitches, and shrewd release strategy. Studios with streamers are embracing mid-range economics, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that frame horror entries into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has turned into the steady tool in programming grids, a genre that can grow when it connects and still hedge the exposure when it doesn’t. After 2023 demonstrated to top brass that cost-conscious entries can own mainstream conversation, the following year maintained heat with festival-darling auteurs and sleeper breakouts. The run fed into 2025, where returns and awards-minded projects signaled there is appetite for multiple flavors, from legacy continuations to non-IP projects that export nicely. The combined impact for 2026 is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across the field, with mapped-out bands, a spread of familiar brands and fresh ideas, and a re-energized priority on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium video on demand and SVOD.

Planners observe the genre now works like a plug-and-play option on the grid. The genre can bow on many corridors, supply a clean hook for spots and shorts, and outpace with crowds that lean in on Thursday previews and keep coming through the next pass if the picture pays off. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 rhythm indicates assurance in that setup. The year opens with a crowded January band, then leans on spring and early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a September to October window that stretches into the fright window and into post-Halloween. The arrangement also features the continuing integration of specialty arms and platforms that can nurture a platform play, grow buzz, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A parallel macro theme is series management across shared universes and long-running brands. The players are not just rolling another return. They are trying to present lineage with a must-see charge, whether that is a graphic identity that indicates a refreshed voice or a lead change that anchors a next entry to a first wave. At the alongside this, the auteurs behind the eagerly awaited originals are championing material texture, makeup and prosthetics and distinct locales. That interplay affords 2026 a confident blend of recognition and novelty, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile bets that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, positioning the film as both a passing of the torch and a classic-mode character piece. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a nostalgia-forward treatment without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Look for a marketing run leaning on recognizable motifs, early character teases, and a staggered trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will drive mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick switches to whatever shapes the discourse that spring.

Universal has three unique plays. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is clean, heartbroken, and commercial: a grieving man sets up an machine companion that turns into a harmful mate. The date slots it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to bring back uncanny live moments and snackable content that blurs romance and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a public title to become an marketing beat closer to the early tease. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele titles are sold as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that reveals little and a next wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The pre-Halloween slot offers Universal room to take 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, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has proven that a visceral, hands-on effects style can feel top-tier on a mid-range budget. Expect a red-band summer horror charge that embraces global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio places two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, sustaining a dependable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is describing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both loyalists and newcomers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build artifacts around mythos, and practical creature work, elements that can fuel PLF interest and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror driven by rigorous craft and period speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is supportive.

Platform lanes and windowing

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films window into copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a cadence that elevates both week-one demand and trial spikes in the downstream. Prime Video stitches together licensed content with cross-border buys and short theatrical plays when the data points to it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog discovery, using curated hubs, spooky hubs, and featured rows to increase tail value on the year’s genre earnings. Netflix stays opportunistic about first-party entries and festival acquisitions, confirming horror entries near their drops and elevating as drops More about the author premieres with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a paired of targeted theatrical exposure and rapid platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a per-project basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to pick up select projects with award winners or marquee packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for platform stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 arc 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 clean: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern sound and cinematography. 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 telegraphed a traditional cinema play for the title, an positive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late-season weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday slot to increase reach. That positioning has helped for auteur horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception warrants. Plan on 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 as a pair, using small theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their user base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By share, the 2026 slate skews toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The go-to fix is to pitch each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is leading with character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-flavored turn from a hot helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the packaging is assuring enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent comps make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that honored streaming windows did not prevent a parallel release from delivering when the brand was potent. In 2024, precision craft horror popped in large-format rooms. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they change perspective and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on 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 lensed back-to-back, creates space for marketing news to link the films through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without extended gaps.

Behind-the-camera trends

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this year’s genre suggest a continued turn toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that centers mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in long-lead press and guild coverage before rolling out a first look that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and gathers shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature design and production design, which favor convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a somber counterpoint amid macro-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the spread of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May have a peek at these guys weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Shoulder season into 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 pre-October slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited plot reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner unfolds into something romantically lethal. 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: atmospheric game 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 try to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic reverses and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to dread, founded on Cronin’s material craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting story that explores the panic of a child’s inconsistent impressions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that pokes at today’s horror trends and true crime fixations. Rating: to be announced. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. 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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a young family caught in past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBA. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBA. Production: proceeding. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and raw menace. Rating: pending. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026, why now

Three operational forces inform this lineup. First, production that stalled or reshuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and shorter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, precision scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will stack across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

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

The sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, 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 momentum and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.