Mythic Terror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across top streaming platforms

A terrifying ghostly terror film from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient curse when passersby become proxies in a dark ceremony. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a intense depiction of staying alive and primeval wickedness that will transform scare flicks this autumn. Visualized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and tone-heavy cinema piece follows five figures who emerge isolated in a wooded dwelling under the aggressive sway of Kyra, a young woman occupied by a 2,000-year-old sacred-era entity. Anticipate to be absorbed by a theatrical spectacle that merges bodily fright with arcane tradition, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a iconic trope in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is reimagined when the beings no longer descend from an outside force, but rather through their own souls. This marks the malevolent side of every character. The result is a intense spiritual tug-of-war where the intensity becomes a relentless fight between heaven and hell.


In a bleak no-man's-land, five friends find themselves contained under the possessive influence and infestation of a mysterious person. As the cast becomes defenseless to evade her command, disconnected and tormented by beings beyond reason, they are pushed to wrestle with their core terrors while the clock unforgivingly pushes forward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread deepens and teams disintegrate, coercing each soul to reconsider their character and the foundation of independent thought itself. The threat escalate with every tick, delivering a terror ride that combines occult fear with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to draw upon pure dread, an darkness from ancient eras, channeling itself through soul-level flaws, and wrestling with a presence that peels away humanity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra was about accessing something past sanity. She is ignorant until the spirit seizes her, and that change is gut-wrenching because it is so close.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—giving customers anywhere can watch this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original clip, which has racked up over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, making the film to international horror buffs.


Don’t miss this soul-jarring voyage through terror. Explore *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to face these chilling revelations about the mind.


For film updates, set experiences, and social posts from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across social media and visit the official digital haunt.





U.S. horror’s Turning Point: 2025 U.S. Slate integrates Mythic Possession, Indie Shockers, set against legacy-brand quakes

Kicking off with fight-to-live nightmare stories rooted in biblical myth and onward to brand-name continuations and acutely observed indies, 2025 appears poised to be the genre’s most multifaceted as well as carefully orchestrated year since the mid-2010s.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. leading studios hold down the year with known properties, in parallel SVOD players flood the fall with new perspectives plus ancestral chills. On another front, the artisan tier is catching the kinetic energy from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, though in this cycle, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, hence 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 presses the advantage.

Universal’s schedule leads off the quarter with an audacious swing: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, instead in a current-day frame. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Under Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer tapers, Warner’s pipeline releases the last chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re boards, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as theme, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This pass pushes higher, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, thickens the animatronic pantheon, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It lands in December, buttoning the final window.

Platform Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Also notable is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed 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 is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No continuity burden. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

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

Streamers grow fangs
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

The Road Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The next genre season: next chapters, new stories, in tandem with A hectic Calendar geared toward goosebumps

Dek The brand-new horror season stacks at the outset with a January cluster, from there unfolds through the warm months, and deep into the year-end corridor, braiding marquee clout, inventive spins, and well-timed counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are betting on mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that shape genre titles into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

Horror has shown itself to be the sturdy option in distribution calendars, a segment that can scale when it performs and still cushion the risk when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to top brass that responsibly budgeted entries can shape social chatter, 2024 sustained momentum with filmmaker-forward plays and unexpected risers. The carry pushed into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and festival-grade titles signaled there is a lane for a spectrum, from series extensions to original one-offs that play globally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a roster that appears tightly organized across players, with intentional bunching, a combination of established brands and first-time concepts, and a renewed focus on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on paid VOD and platforms.

Executives say the category now acts as a plug-and-play option on the schedule. Horror can open on open real estate, furnish a simple premise for ad units and reels, and over-index with fans that arrive on first-look nights and sustain through the second weekend if the release pays off. Emerging from a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 layout indicates certainty in that model. The calendar commences with a loaded January lineup, then leans on spring and early summer for balance, while keeping space for a fall corridor that carries into holiday-adjacent weekends and past the holiday. The program also spotlights the expanded integration of specialty arms and streamers that can launch in limited release, ignite recommendations, and broaden at the sweet spot.

A further high-level trend is series management across shared IP webs and heritage properties. Major shops are not just pushing another entry. They are shaping as continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that broadcasts a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that connects a incoming chapter to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the high-profile originals are leaning into real-world builds, physical gags and site-specific worlds. That fusion produces 2026 a solid mix of recognition and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount defines the early cadence with two spotlight projects that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a baton pass and a foundation-forward relationship-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the authorial approach telegraphs a throwback-friendly strategy without going over the last two entries’ sisters thread. Anticipate a campaign stacked with heritage visuals, character previews, and a staggered trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format making room for quick pivots to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is simple, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that escalates into a fatal companion. The date slots it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to revisit off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that hybridizes romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are branded as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a follow-up trailer set that define feel without revealing the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor affords Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has proven that a gnarly, on-set effects led approach can feel big on a tight budget. Expect a red-band summer horror charge that embraces global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio lines up two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is selling as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both players and first-timers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build promo materials around narrative world, and creature effects, elements that can accelerate deluxe auditorium demand and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film extends Eggers’ run of period horror centered on historical precision and period speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus has already locked the day for a holiday release, a confidence marker in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s genre entries move to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a sequence that maximizes both initial urgency and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video will mix licensed films with worldwide entries and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog engagement, using prominent placements, fright rows, and handpicked rows to keep attention on the horror cume. Netflix keeps flexible about Netflix originals and festival wins, confirming horror entries closer to drop and eventizing go-lives with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a tiered of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to pick up select projects with recognized filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway with two recognizable titles. 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 gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, elevated for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a big-screen first plan for the title, an optimistic indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the late-season weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then using the December frame to scale. That positioning has been successful for auteur horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Keep an eye on 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 as partners, using small theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchises versus originals

By skew, the 2026 slate bends toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness cultural cachet. The watch-out, as ever, is overexposure. The operating solution is to position each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is spotlighting core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French sensibility from a fresh helmer. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an unsparing tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the team and cast is anchored enough to spark pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps announce the logic. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept streaming intact did not hamper a same-day experiment from thriving when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and scale the storytelling. 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 two-step approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to interlace chapters through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without extended gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The production chatter behind these films forecast a continued shift toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that foregrounds texture and dread rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-correct language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft coverage before rolling out a first look that leans on mood over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for tactile gnarliness, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta recalibration that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature design and production design, which lend themselves to convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel necessary. Look for trailers that emphasize razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that land in big rooms.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. 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 tonal palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the range of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

Winter into spring build the summer base. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into 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 lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Shoulder season into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into navigate here Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited information drops that elevate concept over story.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s artificial companion unfolds into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 severe boss work to survive on a lonely island as the chain of command tilts and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to horror, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 home-set haunting narrative that mediates the fear via a minor’s unreliable subjective view. Rating: to be announced. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-supported and star-fronted supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that satirizes hot-button genre motifs and true crime fervors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further extends again, with a new household linked to residual nightmares. Rating: TBD. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A clean reboot designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survivalist horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBD. Production: moving forward. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 era-accurate language and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or shuffled in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will compete across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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

The surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, acoustics, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand gravity where needed, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.