Primeval Dread returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, debuting Oct 2025 across global platforms

One unnerving supernatural fear-driven tale from dramatist / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an timeless fear when guests become pawns in a supernatural ordeal. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing journey of living through and forgotten curse that will revolutionize the horror genre this Halloween season. Realized by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and immersive film follows five strangers who arise locked in a off-grid wooden structure under the oppressive rule of Kyra, a possessed female claimed by a antiquated ancient fiend. Get ready to be enthralled by a visual spectacle that blends soul-chilling terror with ancient myths, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a iconic foundation in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is radically shifted when the malevolences no longer develop from external sources, but rather from their psyche. This mirrors the grimmest facet of these individuals. The result is a edge-of-seat inner struggle where the conflict becomes a constant clash between innocence and sin.


In a abandoned no-man's-land, five figures find themselves stuck under the fiendish presence and domination of a obscure apparition. As the survivors becomes submissive to fight her power, isolated and attacked by entities unfathomable, they are compelled to acknowledge their deepest fears while the countdown mercilessly runs out toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension surges and teams break, compelling each individual to doubt their identity and the idea of volition itself. The stakes accelerate with every heartbeat, delivering a horror experience that connects supernatural terror with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to extract elemental fright, an malevolence from prehistory, manipulating inner turmoil, and examining a evil that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra called for internalizing something rooted in terror. She is uninformed until the haunting manifests, and that change is shocking because it is so deep.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering customers in all regions can watch this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its initial teaser, which has attracted over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Tune in for this soul-jarring descent into hell. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to experience these haunting secrets about the soul.


For director insights, filmmaker commentary, and promotions from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursed across fan hubs and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s decisive shift: 2025 U.S. release slate blends biblical-possession ideas, signature indie scares, together with tentpole growls

Moving from endurance-driven terror suffused with near-Eastern lore and stretching into franchise returns alongside cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is lining up as the most variegated together with intentionally scheduled year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. top-tier distributors bookend the months with familiar IP, concurrently subscription platforms flood the fall with new perspectives set against legend-coded dread. Meanwhile, independent banners is catching the uplift of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the other windows are mapped with care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, notably this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige terror resurfaces

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 accelerates.

the Universal banner sets the tone with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. set for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer wanes, Warner’s slate bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Granted the structure is classic, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, with ghostly inner logic. This pass pushes higher, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The next entry deepens the tale, broadens the animatronic terror cast, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It drops in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a close quarters body horror study anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga led by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by 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 unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No brand fatigue. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, from Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Dials to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

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

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The coming 2026 terror cycle: next chapters, new stories, paired with A jammed Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek: The incoming scare calendar crams early with a January glut, after that spreads through the warm months, and deep into the winter holidays, mixing marquee clout, new voices, and savvy counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are betting on responsible budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and social-driven marketing that position genre releases into water-cooler talk.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The genre has turned into the most reliable swing in studio lineups, a pillar that can lift when it catches and still cushion the floor when it does not. After the 2023 year demonstrated to decision-makers that disciplined-budget horror vehicles can shape the discourse, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The run pushed into 2025, where re-entries and awards-minded projects confirmed there is a lane for multiple flavors, from series extensions to original one-offs that carry overseas. The aggregate for 2026 is a schedule that presents tight coordination across the market, with mapped-out bands, a pairing of brand names and novel angles, and a refocused emphasis on big-screen windows that fuel later windows on premium video on demand and platforms.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now functions as a swing piece on the distribution slate. The genre can open on most weekends, supply a simple premise for teasers and platform-native cuts, and exceed norms with moviegoers that respond on preview nights and return through the second frame if the feature fires. Coming out of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 plan shows confidence in that logic. The slate commences with a thick January block, then plants flags in spring and early summer for contrast, while holding room for a fall corridor that connects to the Halloween corridor and into the next week. The schedule also highlights the ongoing integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can platform and widen, spark evangelism, and broaden at the proper time.

A notable top-line trend is IP stewardship across connected story worlds and storied titles. Studios are not just rolling another continuation. They are looking to package lineage with a occasion, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a new tone or a talent selection that anchors a latest entry to a foundational era. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing physical effects work, makeup and prosthetics and place-driven backdrops. That mix provides 2026 a vital pairing of brand comfort and newness, which is what works overseas.

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

Paramount fires first with two headline bets that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a return-to-roots character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the tonal posture conveys a memory-charged bent without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave centered on brand visuals, intro reveals, and a tiered teaser plan hitting late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will drive mass reach through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick adjustments to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three separate releases. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is straightforward, soulful, and easily pitched: a grieving man sets up an algorithmic mate that mutates into a lethal partner. The date puts it at the front of a stacked January, with the marketing arm likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that fuses longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a public title to become an PR pop closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s releases are presented as event films, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that signal tone without plot the concept. The late-October frame affords Universal to saturate 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, on-set effects led strategy can feel high-value on a lean spend. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror jolt that leans into offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, preserving a consistent supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is describing as a reset for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build campaign creative around narrative world, and monster design, elements that can fuel premium format interest and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror driven by immersive craft and language, this time set against lycan legends. The label has already locked the day for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform strategies for 2026 run on tested paths. The Universal horror run land on copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a stair-step that optimizes both premiere heat and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video stitches together library titles with global pickups and brief theater runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in archive usage, using in-app campaigns, Halloween hubs, and staff picks to maximize the tail on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps flexible about internal projects and festival grabs, timing horror entries closer to drop and turning into events debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a hybrid of limited theatrical footprints and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to board select projects with acclaimed directors or star-led packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 pipeline with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, refined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a cinema-first plan for the title, an promising marker for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, guiding the film through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday slot to move out. That positioning has worked well for auteur horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception allows. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using limited runs to ignite evangelism that fuels their audience.

IP versus fresh ideas

By proportion, the 2026 slate tips toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage marquee value. The challenge, as ever, is fatigue. The workable fix is to package each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is emphasizing core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a Francophone tone from a emerging director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the assembly is steady enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Recent-year comps contextualize the template. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that held distribution windows did not deter a day-date try from winning when the brand was sticky. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror exceeded expectations in large-format rooms. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reframe POV and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot consecutively, enables marketing to link the films through character and theme and to keep assets in-market without hiatuses.

Production craft signals

The shop talk behind the 2026 slate foreshadow a continued shift toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that foregrounds unease and texture rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft features before rolling out a mood teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for red-band excess, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and drives shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta refresh that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster work and world-building, which fit with booth activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel definitive. Look for trailers that elevate fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is full. 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 marquee brands. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the tonal variety affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Late winter and spring set up the summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

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

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a early fall window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a opaque tease strategy and limited plot reveals that stress concept over spoilers.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday card usage.

Project briefs

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s digital partner grows into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss battle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power swivels and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

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 from-today rework that returns the monster to dread, anchored by Cronin’s practical effects and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal 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 tale that filters its scares through a young child’s unreliable subjective lens. Rating: not yet rated. Production: finished. 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 participating creatively. Logline: {A satirical comeback that targets in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. 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 flares, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a young family caught in lingering terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A fresh restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for pure survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in progress. 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 elemental fear. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can patch those gaps promptly movies because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify turnkey scare beats from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will share space across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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

The surprise-hit pursuit 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, tight deployments, 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 materiality, soundscape, and imagery 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 Robust 2026 On Deck

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is name recognition where it counts, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, guard the secrets, and let the shocks sell the seats.