Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed unleashes antediluvian malevolence, a nightmare fueled horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 on major streaming services

A blood-curdling occult suspense story from storyteller / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an long-buried terror when strangers become tools in a demonic conflict. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing depiction of resistance and primordial malevolence that will revolutionize the horror genre this scare season. Realized by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and immersive tale follows five lost souls who arise sealed in a wooded dwelling under the malignant power of Kyra, a troubled woman haunted by a two-thousand-year-old biblical force. Be warned to be gripped by a filmic outing that combines bodily fright with folklore, debuting on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a recurring tradition in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is reversed when the monsters no longer manifest outside the characters, but rather from their psyche. This suggests the most primal layer of each of them. The result is a enthralling mental war where the suspense becomes a soul-crushing push-pull between heaven and hell.


In a desolate outland, five individuals find themselves cornered under the possessive rule and spiritual invasion of a uncanny entity. As the victims becomes submissive to fight her influence, detached and tracked by powers inconceivable, they are made to battle their darkest emotions while the countdown unforgivingly edges forward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease escalates and alliances erode, forcing each cast member to reconsider their values and the idea of self-determination itself. The threat intensify with every second, delivering a terror ride that harmonizes demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to draw upon deep fear, an curse beyond recorded history, operating within psychological breaks, and questioning a evil that challenges autonomy when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something beyond human emotion. She is blind until the demon emerges, and that evolution is gut-wrenching because it is so internal.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for worldwide release beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing horror lovers worldwide can watch this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its release of trailer #1, which has collected over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, spreading the horror to thrill-seekers globally.


Avoid skipping this haunted path of possession. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these fearful discoveries about our species.


For sneak peeks, filmmaker commentary, and alerts from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit the film’s website.





Horror’s tipping point: 2025 in focus domestic schedule weaves old-world possession, signature indie scares, in parallel with returning-series thunder

From survivor-centric dread saturated with primordial scripture and including franchise returns and sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted in tandem with precision-timed year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio powerhouses are anchoring the year with familiar IP, in tandem platform operators front-load the fall with emerging auteurs as well as legend-coded dread. On the festival side, independent banners is propelled by the kinetic energy from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are precise, thus 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the base, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal camp begins the calendar with an audacious swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, instead in a current-day frame. Led by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. timed for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner Bros. banner 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. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and the tone that worked before is intact: period tinged dread, trauma centered writing, along with eerie supernatural rules. The ante is higher this round, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Closing the prime list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It opens in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are pushing into risk, and dividends follow.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a two hander body horror spiral pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a near certain autumn drop.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When darkness comes, Kyra’s power swells, a penetrating force tapping their private fears, soft spots, and remorse.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but 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 Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a clever angle. No puffed out backstory. No sequel clutter. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

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

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, geared to push its techno horror story world with added characters and AI made scares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, under Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in 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.

What to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamers grow fangs
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Expect one or more 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. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The next genre year to come: continuations, universe starters, and also A loaded Calendar optimized for frights

Dek: The upcoming scare season clusters immediately with a January glut, then unfolds through summer corridors, and well into the winter holidays, mixing name recognition, inventive spins, and well-timed counterplay. Studios with streamers are leaning into lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and social-driven marketing that elevate the slate’s entries into four-quadrant talking points.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has emerged as the consistent tool in programming grids, a pillar that can accelerate when it resonates and still limit the losses when it under-delivers. After the 2023 year showed buyers that lean-budget chillers can drive social chatter, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The trend translated to the 2025 frame, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers confirmed there is a lane for many shades, from series extensions to non-IP projects that translate worldwide. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that reads highly synchronized across the major shops, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a renewed focus on big-screen windows that increase tail monetization on premium home window and OTT platforms.

Distribution heads claim the space now performs as a versatile piece on the slate. The genre can arrive on virtually any date, provide a sharp concept for marketing and reels, and over-index with crowds that appear on opening previews and keep coming through the subsequent weekend if the release delivers. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 cadence exhibits comfort in that model. The slate launches with a busy January run, then leans on spring and early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a fall corridor that carries into All Hallows period and past the holiday. The layout also underscores the stronger partnership of specialized imprints and streaming partners that can grow from platform, spark evangelism, and widen at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is series management across ongoing universes and long-running brands. The studios are not just mounting another chapter. They are looking to package connection with a sense of event, whether that is a logo package that conveys a recalibrated tone or a talent selection that connects a upcoming film to a foundational era. At the alongside this, the visionaries behind the headline-grabbing originals are doubling down on in-camera technique, special makeup and location-forward worlds. That mix affords 2026 a solid mix of known notes and unexpected turns, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount marks the early tempo with two headline releases that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the center, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a DNA-forward character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture points to a throwback-friendly strategy without going over the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave centered on classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a tease cadence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

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 joining up again, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will stress. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will hunt mainstream recognition through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick updates to whatever defines genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, melancholic, and easily pitched: a grieving man sets up an intelligent companion that escalates into a fatal companion. The date positions it at the front of a crowded corridor, with Universal’s campaign likely to recreate eerie street stunts and short-form creative that threads longing and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as 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 makes room for a title reveal to become an attention spike closer to the teaser. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. The filmmaker’s films are presented as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting see here teaser and a second wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a in-your-face, on-set effects led treatment can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Expect a blood-soaked summer horror shock that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio deploys two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, continuing a bankable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is describing as a fresh restart 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 explicit mandate to serve both players and first-timers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around canon, and monster design, elements that can boost large-format demand and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror driven by historical precision and historical speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus’s team has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is robust.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal titles window into copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a ladder that enhances both premiere heat and sign-up spikes in the back half. Prime Video stitches together licensed titles with cross-border buys and limited runs in theaters when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library engagement, using curated hubs, fright rows, and editorial rows to lengthen the tail on the horror cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about first-party entries and festival grabs, dating horror entries near launch and making event-like launches with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and swift platform pivots that turns chatter to conversion. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a per-project basis. The platform has been willing to buy select projects with recognized filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation builds.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 corridor with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is uncomplicated: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, elevated for modern sound and image. 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 suggested a cinema-first plan for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the autumn weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then working the December frame to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for arthouse horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work jointly, using limited runs to spark the evangelism that fuels their subs.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on household recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is diminishing returns. The standing approach is to position each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is bringing forward core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-tinted vision from a buzzed-about director. Those choices carry weight when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the team and cast is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and first-night audiences.

Rolling three-year comps frame the playbook. In 2023, a cinema-first model that honored streaming windows did not obstruct a dual release from delivering when the brand was compelling. In 2024, auteur craft horror punched above its weight in PLF. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they pivot perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 back-to-back, enables marketing to tie installments through personae and themes and to keep assets in-market without dead zones.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate indicate a continued tilt toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that emphasizes atmosphere and fear rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and era-correct language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead features and guild coverage before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature craft and set design, which align with convention activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel key. Look for trailers that emphasize fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that play in premium auditoriums.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a brooding contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 bridges into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

End of summer through fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited advance reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s digital partner escalates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a warped 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 unyielding boss scramble to survive on a remote island as the power balance of power inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

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 fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, shaped by Cronin’s in-camera craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that explores the fright of a child’s tricky interpretations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-crafted and star-led haunting thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A send-up revival that riffs on today’s horror trends and true crime preoccupations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new household caught in old terrors. Rating: pending. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: A reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-core horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: to be announced. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: forthcoming. Production: continuing. 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 time-true diction and raw menace. Rating: TBA. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller with artisan honors in view.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the moment is 2026

Three execution-level forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that paused or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will jostle across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 sleeper-hit 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 use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first unexpected 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, soundcraft, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is franchise muscle where it helps, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the gasps sell the seats.