Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a bone chilling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A blood-curdling mystic nightmare movie from writer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an archaic nightmare when strangers become puppets in a devilish contest. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping depiction of resistance and ancient evil that will reshape fear-driven cinema this scare season. Helmed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and moody fearfest follows five lost souls who find themselves stranded in a hidden structure under the dark control of Kyra, a possessed female controlled by a antiquated sacred-era entity. Be prepared to be drawn in by a screen-based journey that merges intense horror with mythic lore, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demonic control has been a mainstay element in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is flipped when the forces no longer develop externally, but rather from deep inside. This suggests the most hidden version of all involved. The result is a gripping identity crisis where the suspense becomes a brutal face-off between light and darkness.


In a wilderness-stricken natural abyss, five adults find themselves isolated under the ghastly effect and curse of a unidentified entity. As the ensemble becomes incapacitated to evade her curse, left alone and pursued by unknowns beyond comprehension, they are thrust to face their emotional phantoms while the final hour without pity edges forward toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension escalates and ties dissolve, requiring each survivor to contemplate their core and the structure of self-determination itself. The cost escalate with every second, delivering a nightmarish journey that combines unearthly horror with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to channel instinctual horror, an entity from ancient eras, embedding itself in emotional fractures, and exposing a being that challenges autonomy when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra demanded embodying something outside normal anguish. She is in denial until the curse activates, and that evolution is bone-chilling because it is so deep.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for streaming beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing audiences around the globe can face this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its release of trailer #1, which has seen over 100,000 views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, spreading the horror to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this bone-rattling trip into the unknown. Confront *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to face these terrifying truths about our species.


For behind-the-scenes access, production news, and reveals from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across social media and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s pivotal crossroads: the 2025 season U.S. release slate fuses myth-forward possession, independent shockers, paired with tentpole growls

Spanning survival horror rooted in mythic scripture through to IP renewals and cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is lining up as horror’s most layered combined with carefully orchestrated year in recent memory.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio powerhouses set cornerstones via recognizable brands, in parallel digital services load up the fall with first-wave breakthroughs as well as ancient terrors. On the independent axis, festival-forward creators is fueled by the tailwinds from a record 2024 festival run. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are exacting, therefore 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule lights the fuse with a bold swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a modern-day environment. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. From director Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

When summer fades, Warner Bros. sets loose the finale from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retro dread, trauma as text, with spooky supernatural reasoning. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The next entry deepens the tale, broadens the animatronic terror cast, courting teens and the thirty something base. It drops in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Offerings: Modest spend, serious shock

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a tight space body horror vignette fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga led by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

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

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Authored and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No overinflated mythology. No IP hangover. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Series Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Emerging Currents

Mythic dread mainstreams
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

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.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The forthcoming 2026 fear calendar year ahead: returning titles, universe starters, paired with A loaded Calendar calibrated for chills

Dek The emerging genre cycle lines up from day one with a January crush, and then unfolds through the mid-year, and straight through the holiday frame, weaving IP strength, fresh ideas, and calculated counterplay. The big buyers and platforms are embracing responsible budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and influencer-ready assets that elevate these pictures into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror momentum into 2026

The genre has established itself as the steady option in release strategies, a segment that can surge when it connects and still hedge the losses when it underperforms. After 2023 proved to buyers that responsibly budgeted pictures can drive cultural conversation, 2024 sustained momentum with buzzy auteur projects and unexpected risers. The tailwind pushed into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and festival-grade titles made clear there is room for different modes, from returning installments to original one-offs that export nicely. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the market, with planned clusters, a equilibrium of brand names and new pitches, and a revived attention on cinema windows that increase tail monetization on premium on-demand and SVOD.

Buyers contend the horror lane now serves as a flex slot on the slate. Horror can bow on most weekends, offer a quick sell for creative and social clips, and over-index with demo groups that come out on preview nights and continue through the week two if the offering lands. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup indicates comfort in that approach. The calendar rolls out with a thick January window, then targets spring into early summer for audience offsets, while saving space for a autumn push that connects to the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The layout also shows the ongoing integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and move wide at the precise moment.

A companion trend is brand curation across shared IP webs and storied titles. Big banners are not just producing another sequel. They are setting up brand continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a brandmark that announces a tonal shift or a talent selection that connects a next film to a vintage era. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing in-camera technique, practical effects and grounded locations. That convergence delivers 2026 a healthy mix of recognition and unexpected turns, which is the formula for international play.

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

Paramount marks the early tempo with two high-profile releases that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the lead, signaling it as both a succession moment and a classic-mode character-focused installment. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a legacy-leaning campaign without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Look for a marketing run centered on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a summer relief option, this one will drive four-quadrant chatter through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format supporting quick redirects to whatever dominates the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three defined bets. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is tight, grief-rooted, and commercial: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that mutates into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a front-loaded month, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit strange in-person beats and brief clips that blurs intimacy and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an fan moment closer to the initial promo. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele projects are positioned as must-see filmmaker statements, with a opaque teaser and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The pre-Halloween slot opens a lane to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has shown that a blood-soaked, on-set effects led method can feel premium on a middle budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror shot that leans into global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

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, preserving a reliable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is positioning as a reimagined restart 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 well-defined brief to serve both players and novices. The fall slot provides the studio time to build materials around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can increase premium booking interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books 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 centered on meticulous craft and period speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. The company has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is robust.

Streaming windows and tactics

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on proven patterns. The studio’s horror films transition to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a tiered path that boosts both launch urgency and platform bumps in the tail. Prime Video interleaves third-party pickups with world buys and limited runs in theaters when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and curated strips to increase tail value on 2026 genre cume. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival snaps, dating horror entries near launch and eventizing rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of selective theatrical runs and speedy platforming that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has indicated interest to acquire select projects with name filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 runway with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late-season weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has worked well for elevated genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using mini theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By share, the 2026 slate tips toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is brand wear. The workable fix is to market each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a buzzed-about director. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and talent-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the cast-creatives package is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and advance-audience nights.

The last three-year set announce the template. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a day-and-date experiment from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, auteur craft horror over-performed in PLF. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters produced back-to-back, allows marketing to thread films through cast and motif and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The shop talk behind the 2026 entries indicate a continued preference for hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that elevates aura and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing cost management.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and produces shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature design and production design, which play well in convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theater case feel must-have. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that sing on PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is jammed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid heavier IP. The month finishes 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 thick, but the menu of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

Late winter and spring stage summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The 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 clarifies the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops gnarly intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. 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.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a slow-reveal plan and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card spend.

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 moves. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: More about the author Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s AI companion grows into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 difficult boss battle to survive on a desolate island as the chain of command shifts and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 renewed take that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: 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 residential haunting chiller that explores the horror of a child’s unreliable perspective. Rating: rating pending. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that satirizes today’s horror trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a young family caught in old terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBD. Production: advancing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf get redirected here (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and primordial menace. Rating: TBD. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 and why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate repeatable beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, making room for genre entries that can command a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will line up across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where value-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 exploit those windows. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, sound field, 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is franchise muscle where it helps, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.