Age-old Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

A spine-tingling mystic fear-driven tale from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an age-old fear when unrelated individuals become pawns in a fiendish experiment. Hitting screens October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful episode of staying alive and prehistoric entity that will transform the horror genre this October. Guided by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and cinematic story follows five characters who snap to ensnared in a off-grid hideaway under the malignant influence of Kyra, a female presence controlled by a two-thousand-year-old ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be enthralled by a visual presentation that melds visceral dread with folklore, dropping on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a iconic fixture in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is twisted when the beings no longer arise from beyond, but rather internally. This illustrates the malevolent part of the victims. The result is a harrowing moral showdown where the drama becomes a brutal contest between light and darkness.


In a abandoned natural abyss, five friends find themselves trapped under the malevolent grip and domination of a haunted being. As the survivors becomes submissive to evade her rule, stranded and targeted by presences beyond reason, they are obligated to battle their core terrors while the time mercilessly runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear intensifies and bonds erode, demanding each figure to evaluate their identity and the philosophy of independent thought itself. The danger escalate with every tick, delivering a frightening tale that combines ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to explore primitive panic, an threat that existed before mankind, feeding on our fears, and highlighting a darkness that forces self-examination when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra involved tapping into something far beyond human desperation. She is blind until the demon emerges, and that transition is gut-wrenching because it is so intimate.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—giving fans from coast to coast can face this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its release of trailer #1, which has garnered over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, extending the thrill to lovers of terror across nations.


Make sure to see this mind-warping exploration of dread. Confront *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to uncover these dark realities about mankind.


For previews, extra content, and reveals via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s pivotal crossroads: 2025 for genre fans U.S. calendar melds primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, together with tentpole growls

Spanning grit-forward survival fare suffused with near-Eastern lore and onward to returning series alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted plus intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. leading studios stabilize the year via recognizable brands, while subscription platforms pack the fall with debut heat paired with ancestral chills. On another front, indie storytellers is riding the tailwinds of a banner 2024 fest year. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 presses the advantage.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with a marquee bet: a refreshed Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a clear present-tense world. Steered 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. Booked into 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 turned minimalist horror show. Led by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, the Warner lot unveils the final movement from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Though the formula is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the memorable motifs return: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, along with eerie supernatural rules. This run ups the stakes, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The new chapter enriches the lore, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It drops in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Firsts: Modest spend, serious shock

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a room scale body horror descent fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. 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 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 a calculated bet. No swollen lore. No IP hangover. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Series Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic currents go mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

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

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The filler era wanes for platform horror. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theaters are a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 Horror Year Ahead: returning titles, universe starters, together with A packed Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The arriving terror cycle lines up at the outset with a January cluster, from there extends through the mid-year, and straight through the late-year period, marrying brand heft, new concepts, and well-timed counter-scheduling. Distributors with platforms are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and short-form initiatives that shape these films into cross-demo moments.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has become the steady tool in release plans, a category that can expand when it breaks through and still safeguard the drawdown when it doesn’t. After 2023 demonstrated to top brass that disciplined-budget scare machines can own the national conversation, 2024 held pace with signature-voice projects and under-the-radar smashes. The trend translated to 2025, where returns and elevated films demonstrated there is space for multiple flavors, from sequel tracks to one-and-done originals that carry overseas. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a grid that appears tightly organized across the field, with intentional bunching, a mix of established brands and novel angles, and a revived stance on cinema windows that drive downstream revenue on premium on-demand and SVOD.

Distribution heads claim the space now operates like a wildcard on the schedule. The genre can bow on many corridors, yield a simple premise for creative and vertical videos, and over-index with moviegoers that turn out on opening previews and continue through the next weekend if the picture delivers. Post a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 layout underscores belief in that approach. The slate gets underway with a busy January block, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while holding room for a fall corridor that connects to holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The map also spotlights the stronger partnership of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and roll out at the sweet spot.

A second macro trend is brand management across shared universes and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just rolling another entry. They are looking to package brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a logo package that flags a refreshed voice or a casting pivot that reconnects a next entry to a foundational era. At the same time, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are favoring practical craft, real effects and location-forward worlds. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a robust balance of brand comfort and surprise, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount sets the tone early with two headline pushes that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a handoff and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach suggests a nostalgia-forward mode without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with iconic art, early character teases, and a tiered teaser plan arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will emphasize. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will hunt mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick pivots to whatever owns the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three discrete pushes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is crisp, somber, and logline-clear: a grieving man purchases an synthetic partner that shifts into a murderous partner. The date puts it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to revisit uncanny-valley stunts and brief clips that interweaves romance and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a public title to become an fan moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s work are presented as signature events, with a opaque teaser and a follow-up trailer set that shape mood without giving away the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date offers Universal room to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on 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 is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has long shown that a gnarly, on-set effects led style can feel deluxe on a efficient spend. Position this as a gore-forward summer horror rush that leans into global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio books two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, holding a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in navigate to this website late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is positioning as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both diehards and novices. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign pieces around canon, and monster design, elements that can lift large-format demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror centered on minute detail and period language, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on predictable routes. The studio’s horror films feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a sequence that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and subscriber lifts in the later phase. Prime Video will mix outside acquisitions with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using in-app campaigns, fright rows, and featured rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix plays opportunist about internal projects and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries toward the drop and making event-like premieres with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a hybrid of precision theatrical plays and speedy platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to purchase select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 slate with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is simple: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, reimagined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a traditional theatrical plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the October weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has shown results for elevated genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception prompts. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using precision theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their audience.

Legacy titles versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on franchise value. The question, as ever, is viewer burnout. The practical approach is to market each entry as a new angle. Paramount is centering character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-accented approach from a buzzed-about director. Those choices count when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the package is known enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

The last three-year set frame the model. In 2023, a cinema-first model that honored streaming windows did not prevent a same-day experiment from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror surged in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, allows marketing to tie installments through character web and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the year’s horror hint at a continued shift toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that underscores unease and texture rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that see here works internationally in red-band trailers and drives shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature and environment design, which fit with expo activations and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound design 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 sudden silences that land in premium houses.

Release calendar overview

January is loaded. 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 atmospheric change-up amid big-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror 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 sustains.

Post-January through spring load in summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now backs 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil follows September 18, a early fall window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited information drops that favor idea over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative returns 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 widowed man’s intelligent companion mutates into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss try to survive on a lonely island as the power dynamic reverses and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to terror, grounded in Cronin’s in-camera craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting premise that leverages the chill of a child’s wobbly POV. Rating: TBD. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed and marquee-led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that lampoons current genre trends and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBD. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further extends again, with a young family linked to ancient dread. Rating: to be announced. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A new start designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action fireworks. Rating: to be announced. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: pending. Production: advancing. 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 elemental fear. Rating: undetermined. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or recalendared in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming releases. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing 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 welcome the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, audio design, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand heft where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.