Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts primordial evil, a nerve shredding chiller, premiering Oct 2025 on leading streamers

A bone-chilling mystic nightmare movie from cinematographer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an timeless fear when drifters become proxies in a demonic conflict. Launching on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing portrayal of endurance and mythic evil that will revamp horror this spooky time. Produced by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and eerie story follows five lost souls who come to isolated in a wilderness-bound cottage under the ominous grip of Kyra, a tormented girl consumed by a time-worn religious nightmare. Steel yourself to be absorbed by a cinematic venture that unites soul-chilling terror with ancestral stories, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a long-standing foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is twisted when the fiends no longer form externally, but rather from their psyche. This portrays the deepest element of the cast. The result is a edge-of-seat inner struggle where the plotline becomes a brutal battle between righteousness and malevolence.


In a wilderness-stricken wilderness, five young people find themselves confined under the possessive sway and curse of a unidentified entity. As the team becomes unable to escape her power, left alone and tracked by unknowns unnamable, they are confronted to wrestle with their soulful dreads while the time without pause pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread escalates and teams splinter, demanding each figure to reflect on their self and the philosophy of autonomy itself. The tension grow with every second, delivering a chilling narrative that connects paranormal dread with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to extract core terror, an darkness from prehistory, influencing human fragility, and dealing with a being that threatens selfhood when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Portraying Kyra meant evoking something beneath mortal despair. She is in denial until the evil takes hold, and that change is bone-chilling because it is so unshielded.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing fans around the globe can enjoy this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its release of trailer #1, which has earned over strong viewer count.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, spreading the horror to scare fans abroad.


Join this heart-stopping voyage through terror. Join *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to uncover these terrifying truths about free will.


For sneak peeks, special features, and promotions from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the year 2025 U.S. calendar fuses legend-infused possession, independent shockers, set against returning-series thunder

Across survival horror steeped in ancient scripture to franchise returns set beside focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become the most dimensioned along with deliberate year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. studio powerhouses bookend the months with known properties, even as OTT services stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against ancient terrors. In the indie lane, independent banners is riding the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Since Halloween is the prized date, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: High-craft horror returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s slate leads off the quarter with a statement play: a modernized Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a modern-day environment. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. set for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, the Warner lot unveils the final movement from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. This run ups the stakes, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, pinning the winter close.

Streamer Exclusives: Modest spend, serious shock

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a forensic chill anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a tight space body horror vignette led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story 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 film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. 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. 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. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is canny scheduling. No heavy handed lore. No IP hangover. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

Signals and Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The filler era wanes for platform horror. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. 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. 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.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new chiller release year: continuations, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar engineered for frights

Dek The arriving horror calendar loads in short order with a January wave, subsequently rolls through midyear, and pushing into the year-end corridor, combining IP strength, fresh ideas, and calculated counterplay. Studios and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that shape these films into all-audience topics.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

This space has emerged as the consistent tool in release plans, a segment that can break out when it breaks through and still hedge the exposure when it misses. After the 2023 year reassured executives that cost-conscious chillers can drive pop culture, 2024 sustained momentum with festival-darling auteurs and word-of-mouth wins. The carry rolled into the 2025 frame, where reboots and elevated films made clear there is space for several lanes, from sequel tracks to original one-offs that translate worldwide. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a slate that reads highly synchronized across the market, with defined corridors, a blend of known properties and novel angles, and a re-energized commitment on release windows that feed downstream value on PVOD and platforms.

Executives say the space now works like a fill-in ace on the distribution slate. The genre can debut on many corridors, furnish a clear pitch for trailers and UGC-friendly snippets, and exceed norms with crowds that respond on Thursday previews and sustain through the second weekend if the title delivers. Exiting a production delay era, the 2026 rhythm signals trust in that dynamic. The year commences with a loaded January block, then turns to spring and early summer for audience offsets, while saving space for a October build that reaches into Halloween and into early November. The layout also underscores the ongoing integration of boutique distributors and subscription services that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and widen at the timely point.

A companion trend is legacy care across connected story worlds and established properties. Distribution groups are not just mounting another next film. They are moving to present brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a typeface approach that flags a recalibrated tone or a ensemble decision that connects a upcoming film to a original cycle. At the simultaneously, the creative teams behind the most watched originals are championing practical craft, practical gags and distinct locales. That combination produces 2026 a smart balance of assurance and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece entries that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the spine, framing it as both a relay and a heritage-centered character-forward chapter. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a fan-service aware treatment without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. Watch for a push centered on signature symbols, character-first teases, and a promo sequence hitting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will emphasize. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will generate broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever owns pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is straightforward, somber, and concept-forward: a grieving man brings home an digital partner that evolves into a killer companion. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise creepy live activations and bite-size content that interweaves longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a official title to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele titles are set up as filmmaker events, with a teaser that holds back and a second trailer wave that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor lets the studio to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a visceral, on-set effects led aesthetic can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Look for a splatter summer horror shot that embraces foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio launches two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a consistent supernatural brand on the grid while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is marketing 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 clearer mandate to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign creative around narrative world, and creature effects, elements that can fuel PLF interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by obsessive craft and historical speech, this time set against lycan legends. Focus Features has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a public confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is glowing.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate move to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that expands both opening-weekend urgency and sign-up spikes in the downstream. Prime Video balances outside acquisitions with world buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, Halloween hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps optionality about in-house releases and festival wins, scheduling horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops premieres with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a dual-phase of precision releases and swift platform pivots that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has signaled readiness to take on select projects with prestige directors or star-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly engagement when the genre conversation builds.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 sequence with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a cinema-first plan for the title, an encouraging sign for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday corridor to expand. That positioning has proved effective for craft-driven horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception warrants. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using boutique theatrical to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchise entries versus originals

By tilt, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to market each entry as a new angle. Paramount is foregrounding character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French sensibility from a rising filmmaker. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the deal build is recognizable enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years frame the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not preclude a day-and-date experiment from delivering when the brand was big. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror surged in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they shift POV and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on 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 in tandem, enables marketing to link the films through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without dead zones.

Craft and creative trends

The shop talk behind this slate point to a continued lean toward in-camera, locale-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 finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and department features before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and creates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature and environment design, which work nicely for convention floor stunts and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that play in premium auditoriums.

Calendar map: navigate to this website winter through the holidays

January is busy. 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 moody palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the tone spread makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth persists.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Scream 7 hits February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that elevate concept over story.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s algorithmic partner turns into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: aura-driven 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 prickly boss try to survive on a desolate island as the control dynamic inverts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, built on Cronin’s physical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting premise that manipulates the chill of a child’s unreliable senses. Rating: TBD. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that teases current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: TBA. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 breaks out, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a fresh family snared by lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over action spectacle. 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: awaiting confirmation. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in progress. 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 historical diction and primordial menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three nuts-and-bolts forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage meme-ready beats from test screenings, select scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Calendar math also matters. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, providing runway for genre entries that can seize a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will cluster across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where modest-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 press those advantages. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, optimized footprints, 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 dimensionality, sound, 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.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is name recognition where it counts, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, keep secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.