Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed stirs up primordial evil, a nerve shredding chiller, streaming October 2025 across top streaming platforms

A spine-tingling occult terror film from storyteller / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an ancient terror when guests become proxies in a fiendish experiment. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching account of staying alive and age-old darkness that will reimagine the horror genre this October. Realized by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and immersive film follows five characters who come to trapped in a unreachable hideaway under the malevolent control of Kyra, a troubled woman inhabited by a timeless Old Testament spirit. Arm yourself to be immersed by a narrative event that integrates deep-seated panic with ancient myths, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a enduring foundation in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is redefined when the malevolences no longer originate from beyond, but rather from their psyche. This suggests the deepest layer of the protagonists. The result is a harrowing emotional conflict where the story becomes a brutal battle between right and wrong.


In a isolated wild, five individuals find themselves imprisoned under the possessive grip and spiritual invasion of a enigmatic apparition. As the cast becomes submissive to deny her command, severed and targeted by creatures impossible to understand, they are driven to wrestle with their greatest panics while the clock ruthlessly strikes toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension intensifies and associations erode, compelling each survivor to examine their essence and the principle of independent thought itself. The pressure mount with every passing moment, delivering a terror ride that weaves together demonic fright with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to explore pure dread, an force from ancient eras, manipulating emotional fractures, and highlighting a will that threatens selfhood when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant channeling something more primal than sorrow. She is unseeing until the haunting manifests, and that pivot is harrowing because it is so private.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—making sure customers in all regions can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its first trailer, which has received over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, taking the terror to thrill-seekers globally.


Join this life-altering fall into madness. Explore *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these terrifying truths about free will.


For previews, production news, and news from the creators, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your socials and visit the official movie site.





Current horror’s inflection point: the year 2025 U.S. lineup integrates legend-infused possession, indie terrors, set against returning-series thunder

From life-or-death fear grounded in scriptural legend and stretching into franchise returns alongside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 stands to become the most textured as well as deliberate year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors plant stakes across the year through proven series, while streamers stack the fall with fresh voices together with primordial unease. In parallel, horror’s indie wing is buoyed by the tailwinds of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A fat September–October lane is customary now, however this time, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are precise, and 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium dread reemerges

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

the Universal camp sets the tone with an audacious swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, inside today’s landscape. Under director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Slated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer eases, the WB camp delivers the closing chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re engages, and the memorable motifs return: vintage toned fear, trauma as theme, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. Here the stakes rise, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The new chapter enriches the lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It books December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters bet on familiarity, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Helmed by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a sealed box body horror arc anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative starring Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Scripted and led 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 dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No overinflated mythology. No franchise baggage. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are more runway than museum.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror comes roaring back
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The upcoming fright Year Ahead: continuations, Originals, and also A hectic Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek The fresh genre cycle stacks in short order with a January glut, after that flows through June and July, and carrying into the winter holidays, fusing IP strength, new concepts, and strategic calendar placement. Major distributors and platforms are focusing on smart costs, cinema-first plans, and social-driven marketing that transform these films into national conversation.

The landscape of horror in 2026

This category has proven to be the consistent tool in distribution calendars, a category that can grow when it resonates and still safeguard the floor when it falls short. After the 2023 year signaled to buyers that cost-conscious chillers can steer the zeitgeist, the following year extended the rally with festival-darling auteurs and quiet over-performers. The upswing carried into 2025, where reawakened brands and awards-minded projects underscored there is a market for many shades, from ongoing IP entries to one-and-done originals that travel well. The sum for 2026 is a run that seems notably aligned across the field, with defined corridors, a blend of brand names and first-time concepts, and a recommitted priority on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital and home streaming.

Planners observe the horror lane now operates like a plug-and-play option on the distribution slate. Horror can launch on open real estate, furnish a clean hook for trailers and shorts, and punch above weight with patrons that respond on Thursday nights and return through the second frame if the movie satisfies. Emerging from a production delay era, the 2026 configuration exhibits conviction in that setup. The calendar opens with a front-loaded January corridor, then plants flags in spring and early summer for alternate plays, while leaving room for a autumn stretch that flows toward Halloween and afterwards. The grid also includes the tightening integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can build gradually, generate chatter, and broaden at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is brand strategy across shared IP webs and established properties. The companies are not just releasing another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a occasion, whether that is a logo package that conveys a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that links a upcoming film to a classic era. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are celebrating material texture, makeup and prosthetics and concrete locations. That combination hands the 2026 slate a robust balance of assurance and freshness, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount sets the tone early with two prominent titles 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 focus, presenting it as both a handoff and a rootsy relationship-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the narrative stance telegraphs a roots-evoking bent without recycling the last two entries’ sisters thread. Expect a marketing push rooted in brand visuals, character-first teases, and a rollout cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will foreground. As a summer relief option, this one will build general-audience talk through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format making room for quick redirects to whatever drives the social talk that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is elegant, grief-rooted, and commercial: a grieving man purchases an artificial companion that becomes a fatal companion. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with the marketing arm likely to replay strange in-person beats and brief clips that melds longing and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be 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 permits a final title to become an PR pop closer to the first trailer. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s pictures are branded as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway opens a lane to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has proven that a flesh-and-blood, makeup-driven execution can feel big on a efficient spend. Frame it as a red-band summer horror shot that embraces overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, maintaining a consistent supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is calling a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a well-defined brief to serve both loyalists and curious audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build assets around world-building, and creature design, elements that can amplify format premiums and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in immersive craft and archaic language, this time set against lycan legends. The company has already locked the day for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is positive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Platform tactics for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s genre entries transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a ordering that enhances both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with worldwide entries and select theatrical runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in back-catalog play, using timely promos, Halloween hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on overall cume. Netflix keeps options open about first-party entries and festival pickups, timing horror entries with shorter lead times and turning into events rollouts with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a one-two of targeted theatrical exposure and short jumps to platform that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to secure select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star packages, then give them a boutique theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Boutique label prospects

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 tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas corridor to broaden. That positioning has shown results for filmmaker-driven genre with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception merits. Watch for 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 targeted theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subs.

IP versus fresh ideas

By proportion, 2026 leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage fan equity. The caveat, as ever, is staleness. The standing approach is to brand each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is spotlighting character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects keep the lungs full. 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 crash-survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is assuring enough to accelerate early sales and advance-audience nights.

Recent-year comps make sense of the method. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that observed windows did not prevent a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reorient and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to link the films through personae and themes and to leave creative active without lulls.

Production craft signals

The production chatter behind 2026 horror hint at a continued emphasis on material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that foregrounds tone and tension rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft features before rolling out a first look that withholds plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta pivot that centers its original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to convention floor stunts and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel essential. Look for trailers that center precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that sing on 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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid larger brand plays. The month finishes 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 real, but the spread of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive 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 rolled through premiums.

August and September into October leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a early fall window that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited previews that stress concept over spoilers.

Year-end prestige and specialty. More about the author Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

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 re-keys to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s machine mate shifts into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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 meet a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 unyielding boss struggle to survive on a isolated island as the power balance inverts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to horror, anchored by Cronin’s in-camera craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. 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 intimate haunting chiller that refracts terror through a little one’s uneven subjective view. Rating: pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-financed and star-fronted supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A send-up revival that satirizes in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography set 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: undetermined. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a young family tethered to returning horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: set for summer production targeting late-summer opening. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBD. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and raw menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. 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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the moment is 2026

Three practical forces define this lineup. First, production that eased or shifted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming landings. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest social-ready stingers from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

Another factor is the scheduling math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first 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. Anticipate a robust PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, soundscape, 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.

2026 Looks Exciting

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is franchise muscle where it helps, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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, shape lean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the gasps sell the seats.