Primeval Dread Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling chiller, debuting Oct 2025 on leading streamers

A blood-curdling ghostly fear-driven tale from author / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an forgotten horror when foreigners become tokens in a diabolical ceremony. Releasing October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish portrayal of continuance and mythic evil that will reshape the fear genre this ghoul season. Visualized by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and shadowy suspense flick follows five teens who suddenly rise trapped in a remote shelter under the ominous power of Kyra, a central character overtaken by a biblical-era scriptural evil. Prepare to be drawn in by a visual spectacle that intertwines gut-punch terror with ancestral stories, streaming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a mainstay trope in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the entities no longer descend from a different plane, but rather from their core. This marks the grimmest dimension of the victims. The result is a gripping psychological battle where the narrative becomes a constant battle between moral forces.


In a barren outland, five adults find themselves trapped under the dark force and curse of a unidentified apparition. As the protagonists becomes paralyzed to break her command, left alone and tormented by creatures mind-shattering, they are confronted to reckon with their deepest fears while the deathwatch coldly pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion rises and relationships dissolve, driving each protagonist to reflect on their identity and the principle of conscious will itself. The danger rise with every second, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that intertwines unearthly horror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to dive into basic terror, an threat from prehistory, operating within our fears, and examining a evil that erodes the self when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra was centered on something more primal than sorrow. She is unseeing until the entity awakens, and that turn is bone-chilling because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be released for public screening beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that customers from coast to coast can face this chilling supernatural event.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its first trailer, which has collected over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, offering the tale to viewers around the world.


Mark your calendar for this bone-rattling trip into the unknown. Stream *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to acknowledge these nightmarish insights about human nature.


For film updates, making-of footage, and reveals from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit our film’s homepage.





Today’s horror major pivot: 2025 for genre fans U.S. Slate braids together myth-forward possession, indie terrors, together with IP aftershocks

Kicking off with grit-forward survival fare saturated with scriptural legend all the way to legacy revivals set beside incisive indie visions, 2025 stands to become the most textured as well as carefully orchestrated year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios bookend the months through proven series, in parallel OTT services saturate the fall with debut heat paired with ancestral chills. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is drafting behind the momentum from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, however this time, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are methodical, and 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: The Return of Prestige Fear

The majors are assertive. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp opens the year with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. From director Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Guided by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. launches the swan song of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson again directs, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: retro dread, trauma foregrounded, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The stakes escalate here, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The return delves further into myth, broadens the animatronic terror cast, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It hits in December, locking down the winter tail.

SVOD Originals: No Budget, No Problem

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Penned and steered 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in 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 looks like sharp programming. No bloated mythology. No IP hangover. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They are more runway than museum.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Long Running Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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

What to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror ascends again
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

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

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The forthcoming 2026 genre release year: returning titles, original films, alongside A busy Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek: The current genre slate clusters up front with a January wave, subsequently unfolds through the summer months, and deep into the year-end corridor, combining legacy muscle, new voices, and data-minded counterplay. The big buyers and platforms are betting on cost discipline, box-office-first windows, and buzz-forward plans that frame these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror sector has turned into the dependable release in distribution calendars, a lane that can accelerate when it breaks through and still hedge the exposure when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year signaled to decision-makers that modestly budgeted shockers can galvanize the discourse, the following year extended the rally with auteur-driven buzzy films and quiet over-performers. The head of steam extended into 2025, where legacy revivals and critical darlings highlighted there is an opening for diverse approaches, from returning installments to standalone ideas that travel well. The takeaway for 2026 is a calendar that presents tight coordination across the market, with intentional bunching, a pairing of known properties and fresh ideas, and a recommitted attention on big-screen windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium on-demand and subscription services.

Buyers contend the category now works like a plug-and-play option on the slate. Horror can bow on most weekends, supply a clear pitch for previews and short-form placements, and outperform with moviegoers that arrive on Thursday nights and keep coming through the second weekend if the film lands. Coming out of a production delay era, the 2026 configuration reflects faith in that engine. The year rolls out with a weighty January window, then taps spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while holding room for a fall run that extends to spooky season and beyond. The map also underscores the tightening integration of specialty arms and streamers that can platform a title, create conversation, and broaden at the timely point.

An added macro current is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and legacy franchises. Distribution groups are not just producing another sequel. They are trying to present ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a graphic identity that flags a refreshed voice or a talent selection that threads a new installment to a foundational era. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the high-profile originals are championing tactile craft, makeup and prosthetics and distinct locales. That interplay affords the 2026 slate a smart balance of trust and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount opens strong with two prominent projects that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the core, presenting it as both a succession moment and a rootsy character-forward chapter. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a fan-service aware framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Anticipate a campaign built on signature symbols, character spotlights, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mass reach through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick adjustments to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three specific bets. SOULM8TE arrives January Source 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is efficient, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an artificial companion that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with Universal’s campaign likely to renew odd public stunts and micro spots that mixes companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule navigate to this website currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a branding reveal to become an attention spike closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. His entries are branded as event films, with a opaque teaser and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has consistently shown that a flesh-and-blood, hands-on effects method can feel big on a mid-range budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror jolt that centers international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio deploys two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, carrying a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is describing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both franchise faithful and newcomers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in minute detail and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The distributor has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is supportive.

Digital platform strategies

Platform tactics for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre slate move to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a pacing that optimizes both debut momentum and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide entries and targeted theatrical runs when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, October hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about internal projects and festival pickups, locking in horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops launches with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a paired of focused cinema runs and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown appetite to purchase select projects with accomplished filmmakers or headline-cast packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is curating a 2026 runway with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is no-nonsense: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the fall weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, piloting the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to broaden. That positioning has served the company well for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception prompts. Plan on 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 together, using limited runs to ignite evangelism that fuels their user base.

Series vs standalone

By share, 2026 favors the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on brand equity. The question, as ever, is fatigue. The workable fix is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a hot helmer. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-led entries bring the oxygen. 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, features Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the packaging is familiar enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps contextualize the logic. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that observed windows did not obstruct a hybrid test from working when the brand was big. In 2024, director-craft horror popped in PLF. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel new when they angle differently and grow scope. 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 dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, enables marketing to cross-link entries through character arcs and themes and to sustain campaign assets without pause points.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind this year’s genre point to a continued turn toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that highlights grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead features and craft coverage before rolling out a preview that elevates tone over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and sparks shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta recalibration that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for con floor moments and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel irresistible. Look for trailers that spotlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids 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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a gloomy counterbalance amid marquee brands. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late Q1 and spring load in summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and holiday gift-card burn.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s synthetic partner mutates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed 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: Shot sequentially 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss battle to survive on a rugged island as the chain of command inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to horror, based on Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting piece that channels the fear through a kid’s shifting personal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. Positioning: major-studio and headline-actor 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 satire sequel that pokes at current genre trends and true crime fervors. Rating: to be announced. Production: shoot planned 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 spreads, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new family caught in older hauntings. Rating: TBA. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: not yet rated. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 ancient menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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

Why 2026 makes sense

Three practical forces organize this lineup. First, production that eased or migrated in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest clippable moments from test screenings, select scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a my company repeatable playbook because it works.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will share space across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 sleeper chase 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. 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 somber, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, sonics, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026, Ready To Roar

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is IP strength where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the scares sell the seats.