Antediluvian Terror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding feature, rolling out October 2025 on top streamers

An blood-curdling otherworldly shockfest from storyteller / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an prehistoric evil when unrelated individuals become instruments in a diabolical game. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing tale of continuance and primeval wickedness that will alter fear-driven cinema this scare season. Crafted by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and emotionally thick cinema piece follows five unknowns who emerge ensnared in a secluded structure under the dark manipulation of Kyra, a troubled woman occupied by a ancient sacred-era entity. Be warned to be absorbed by a cinematic ride that unites bodily fright with ancient myths, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a legendary tradition in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is turned on its head when the beings no longer come from beyond, but rather deep within. This embodies the darkest corner of the group. The result is a bone-chilling emotional conflict where the suspense becomes a ongoing contest between light and darkness.


In a wilderness-stricken backcountry, five individuals find themselves marooned under the fiendish influence and domination of a uncanny female figure. As the cast becomes submissive to fight her command, disconnected and tormented by forces ungraspable, they are cornered to battle their raw vulnerabilities while the time brutally runs out toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion deepens and ties fracture, driving each member to rethink their self and the idea of conscious will itself. The consequences magnify with every beat, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses occult fear with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to explore core terror, an spirit beyond time, influencing soul-level flaws, and challenging a spirit that tests the soul when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is insensitive until the entity awakens, and that metamorphosis is emotionally raw because it is so private.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing users no matter where they are can be part of this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its intro video, which has garnered over six-figure audience.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, extending the thrill to a worldwide audience.


Join this mind-warping fall into madness. Experience *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to face these chilling revelations about the psyche.


For sneak peeks, on-set glimpses, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across fan hubs and visit our horror hub.





U.S. horror’s tipping point: 2025 in focus U.S. lineup braids together biblical-possession ideas, signature indie scares, set against legacy-brand quakes

Spanning last-stand terror grounded in ancient scripture and stretching into returning series paired with acutely observed indies, 2025 is coalescing into the genre’s most multifaceted in tandem with intentionally scheduled year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. leading studios plant stakes across the year with franchise anchors, while OTT services flood the fall with emerging auteurs alongside archetypal fear. On the festival side, independent banners is fueled by the backdraft from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, though in this cycle, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are disciplined, therefore 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: The Return of Prestige Fear

The majors are assertive. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal banner kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. With Leigh Whannell at the helm featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. Slated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Helmed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

Toward summer’s end, the WB camp bows the concluding entry from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the tone that worked before is intact: vintage toned fear, trauma driven plotting, with spooky supernatural reasoning. Here the stakes rise, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, stretches the animatronic parade, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It bows in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Offerings: Slim budgets, major punch

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Under Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a close quarters body horror study anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, 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 film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is canny scheduling. No puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre set plays 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.

Legacy Brands: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

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

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Other titles pivot PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Expect one or more 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. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The oncoming terror slate: continuations, new stories, in tandem with A busy Calendar designed for screams

Dek: The brand-new horror calendar crams at the outset with a January wave, subsequently stretches through the mid-year, and straight through the holidays, marrying marquee clout, fresh ideas, and shrewd release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are prioritizing efficient budgets, cinema-first plans, and social-driven marketing that convert these films into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

This space has established itself as the consistent move in release strategies, a segment that can accelerate when it catches and still safeguard the floor when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught greenlighters that cost-conscious pictures can drive audience talk, 2024 maintained heat with signature-voice projects and slow-burn breakouts. The momentum fed into 2025, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers underscored there is demand for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to filmmaker-driven originals that scale internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a schedule that seems notably aligned across the market, with purposeful groupings, a balance of household franchises and untested plays, and a revived eye on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium on-demand and platforms.

Insiders argue the horror lane now works like a versatile piece on the slate. Horror can open on almost any weekend, generate a sharp concept for ad units and vertical videos, and outstrip with fans that lean in on early shows and return through the second weekend if the offering hits. After a production delay era, the 2026 mapping exhibits confidence in that engine. The slate opens with a busy January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while saving space for a autumn push that connects to the Halloween frame and past the holiday. The layout also shows the deeper integration of specialized labels and streamers that can platform and widen, stoke social talk, and go nationwide at the sweet spot.

A parallel macro theme is brand strategy across brand ecosystems and classic IP. Major shops are not just turning out another continuation. They are shaping as ongoing narrative with a headline quality, whether that is a title treatment that suggests a re-angled tone or a casting pivot that reconnects a latest entry to a foundational era. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring real-world builds, on-set effects and place-driven backdrops. That convergence provides the 2026 slate a smart balance of assurance and shock, which is the formula for international play.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a heritage-centered relationship-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the directional approach signals a throwback-friendly angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Expect a marketing push stacked with franchise iconography, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will stress. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will pursue large awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick reframes to whatever drives the discourse that spring.

Universal has three clear strategies. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is elegant, soulful, and logline-clear: a grieving man onboards an digital partner that mutates into a lethal partner. The date nudges it to the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to replay uncanny live moments and snackable content that threads affection and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the initial promo. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are treated as filmmaker events, with a minimalist tease and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-October frame opens a lane to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, practical-effects forward aesthetic can feel premium on a controlled budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror shot that leans into overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio sets two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, keeping a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch advances. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is describing 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 charge to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around setting detail, and monster craft, elements that can amplify premium format interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by careful craft and historical speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. The label has already set the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ordering that expands both FOMO and sub growth in the tail. Prime Video blends third-party pickups with global acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using timely promos, holiday hubs, and curated strips to stretch the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix plays opportunist about original films and festival wins, confirming horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a tiered of precision releases and prompt platform moves that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has indicated interest to secure select projects with prestige directors or marquee packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clean: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, elevated for modern sound and image. 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 flagged a theatrical-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has paid off for craft-driven horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception allows. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using precision theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their audience.

Known brands versus new stories

By count, 2026 is weighted toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit household recognition. The challenge, as ever, is audience fatigue. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is promising a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the deal build is comforting enough to spark pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Three-year comps clarify the template. In 2023, a cinema-first model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a same-day experiment from working when the brand was big. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror hit big in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reorient and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot in tandem, builds a path for marketing to link the films through protagonists and motifs and to hold creative in the market without hiatuses.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind 2026 horror point to a continued lean 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 squares with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that leans on grain and menace rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for textured sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and earns shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-referential reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which match well with convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that work in PLF.

From winter to holidays

January is jammed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the menu of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Late Q1 and spring stage summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio navigate here a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited previews that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card use.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s virtual companion becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. 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 prickly boss work to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting tale that pipes the unease through a kid’s flickering personal vantage. Rating: not yet rated. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-financed and celebrity-led ghost thriller.

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 genre lampoon that skewers of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime crazes. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

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 surges, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further extends again, with a unlucky family linked to ancient dread. Rating: TBA. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: pending. Logline: A new start designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: pending. Production: underway. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 antique diction and elemental fear. Rating: undetermined. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three hands-on forces structure this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and accelerated schedules. 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Calendar math also matters. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can lead a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where disciplined-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, efficient placements, 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 dimensionality, soundscape, and framing 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 Looks Exciting

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is recognizable IP where it plays, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.