Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases age-old dread, a fear soaked shocker, premiering Oct 2025 across leading streamers

A blood-curdling spiritual nightmare movie from creator / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an forgotten malevolence when unknowns become proxies in a demonic contest. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving chronicle of staying alive and old world terror that will reimagine genre cinema this October. Produced by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and eerie thriller follows five figures who come to sealed in a hidden shelter under the oppressive command of Kyra, a central character controlled by a 2,000-year-old Old Testament spirit. Be prepared to be drawn in by a visual ride that blends instinctive fear with ancient myths, unleashing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a historical element in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is turned on its head when the forces no longer manifest from beyond, but rather internally. This embodies the darkest element of the protagonists. The result is a edge-of-seat spiritual tug-of-war where the emotions becomes a relentless clash between moral forces.


In a unforgiving landscape, five campers find themselves isolated under the fiendish aura and inhabitation of a unidentified female presence. As the characters becomes helpless to evade her curse, left alone and pursued by evils mind-shattering, they are obligated to face their raw vulnerabilities while the timeline harrowingly ticks toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear grows and friendships dissolve, forcing each character to doubt their values and the idea of decision-making itself. The cost amplify with every short lapse, delivering a paranormal ride that harmonizes paranormal dread with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dig into primitive panic, an entity beyond time, working through soul-level flaws, and testing a presence that forces self-examination when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is unseeing until the possession kicks in, and that change is shocking because it is so emotional.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that households globally can engage with this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original promo, which has gathered over a viral response.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, exporting the fear to horror fans worldwide.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable ride through nightmares. Stream *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to experience these spiritual awakenings about the human condition.


For teasers, on-set glimpses, and promotions from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit our spooky domain.





Horror’s tipping point: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate blends primeval-possession lore, microbudget gut-punches, stacked beside tentpole growls

Running from survival horror steeped in biblical myth as well as installment follow-ups as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 appears poised to be horror’s most layered along with blueprinted year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio majors lay down anchors with known properties, as digital services load up the fall with discovery plays alongside primordial unease. On another front, festival-forward creators is catching the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween stays the prime week, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are methodical, so 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige terror resurfaces

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal banner kicks off the frame with a big gambit: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in a modern-day environment. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. dated for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. From director Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer tapers, the WB camp releases the last chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, broadens the animatronic terror cast, speaking to teens and older millennials. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn featuring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is an astute call. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Heritage Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, under Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror ascends again
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new fright slate: next chapters, fresh concepts, plus A brimming Calendar optimized for frights

Dek The arriving terror season stacks immediately with a January pile-up, from there extends through summer, and continuing into the holiday frame, weaving brand equity, original angles, and savvy counterweight. Studios and streamers are relying on efficient budgets, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that shape genre releases into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has established itself as the bankable move in release strategies, a genre that can scale when it hits and still protect the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 showed studio brass that modestly budgeted entries can drive pop culture, 2024 extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind translated to the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and elevated films signaled there is capacity for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that export nicely. The sum for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the market, with defined corridors, a harmony of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a revived attention on cinema windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital and streaming.

Studio leaders note the space now slots in as a utility player on the slate. The genre can premiere on nearly any frame, supply a sharp concept for trailers and reels, and outpace with ticket buyers that show up on early shows and stick through the next pass if the entry pays off. On the heels of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 mapping signals conviction in that playbook. The slate gets underway with a busy January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while keeping space for a fall cadence that flows toward spooky season and into early November. The calendar also spotlights the greater integration of indie arms and streaming partners that can nurture a platform play, spark evangelism, and roll out at the timely point.

A parallel macro theme is franchise tending across ongoing universes and veteran brands. Studio teams are not just producing another return. They are aiming to frame brand continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a logo package that announces a reframed mood or a cast configuration that ties a incoming chapter to a initial period. At the meanwhile, the creative leads behind the most anticipated originals are favoring hands-on technique, practical gags and specific settings. That mix provides the 2026 slate a robust balance of home base and invention, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two headline projects that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a legacy handover and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the narrative stance hints at a throwback-friendly campaign without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. The studio is likely to mount a drive rooted in heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence hitting late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer alternative, this one will drive wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick turns to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three specific bets. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an AI companion that evolves into a deadly partner. The date positions it at the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to renew creepy live activations and brief clips that fuses companionship and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a final title to become an earned moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele projects are positioned as director events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a second beat that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The spooky-season slot opens a lane to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has demonstrated that a tactile, in-camera leaning strategy can feel elevated on a tight budget. Look for a blood-soaked summer horror shot that centers offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is marketing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both players and first-timers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build materials around world-building, and monster aesthetics, elements that can fuel large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes 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 defined by textural authenticity and linguistic texture, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a promissory note in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal titles head to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that maximizes both launch urgency and platform bumps in the late-window. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with worldwide buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using seasonal hubs, October hubs, and handpicked rows to keep attention on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix films and festival deals, slotting horror entries near their drops and staging as events debuts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a one-two of selective theatrical runs and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven 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 leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is curating a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is no-nonsense: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, retooled for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the autumn stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas window to widen. That positioning has been successful for craft-driven horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception supports. Do not be surprised by 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 concert, using limited theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage household recognition. The challenge, as ever, is fatigue. The workable fix is to package each entry as a new angle. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-flavored turn from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and auteur plays provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the assembly is steady enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that honored streaming windows did not obstruct a parallel release from thriving when the brand was strong. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror over-performed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they pivot perspective and expand the canvas. 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 paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot consecutively, enables marketing to link the films through character and theme and to continue assets in field without doldrums.

Creative tendencies and craft

The craft rooms behind this slate hint at a continued move toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not track with any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that emphasizes texture and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in feature stories and technical spotlights before rolling out a first look that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at visceral Check This Out gnarl, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and gathers shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta reframe that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature craft and set design, which match well with booth activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel compelling. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in premium houses.

Month-by-month map

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 somber counterpoint amid bigger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the palette of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards 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 thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a peekaboo tease plan and limited previews that prioritize concept over plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to 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 loss-struck man’s algorithmic partner mutates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 severe boss claw to survive on a cut-off island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

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 modern reimagining that returns the monster to terror, built on Cronin’s hands-on craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting tale that plays with the fright of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: not yet rated. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-built and marquee-led supernatural suspense.

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 satirical comeback that satirizes contemporary horror memes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: pending. 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 detonates, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new clan caught in older hauntings. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-driven horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: ongoing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 ancient menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026, why now

Three practical forces organize this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more structured 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 debuts. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing news teams behind these titles will harvest reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, managed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, making room for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will line up across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, 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 optimal band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where midrange-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. Check This Out The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. 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. Expect a healthy 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.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, 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 dimensionality, audio 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is franchise muscle where it helps, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.