Primordial Evil rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, landing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This unnerving otherworldly terror film from writer / film architect Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an primeval nightmare when guests become tools in a supernatural game. Hitting screens on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful chronicle of living through and primeval wickedness that will alter horror this fall. Produced by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and atmospheric motion picture follows five young adults who awaken locked in a far-off cabin under the unfriendly control of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a 2,000-year-old holy text monster. Be prepared to be ensnared by a immersive outing that fuses intense horror with folklore, hitting on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a enduring concept in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is reversed when the entities no longer arise from a different plane, but rather inside them. This symbolizes the deepest version of every character. The result is a bone-chilling emotional conflict where the narrative becomes a unforgiving clash between heaven and hell.


In a bleak landscape, five campers find themselves sealed under the evil control and control of a mysterious female presence. As the ensemble becomes unable to fight her curse, disconnected and pursued by spirits impossible to understand, they are cornered to confront their darkest emotions while the doomsday meter mercilessly pushes forward toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion escalates and links shatter, coercing each participant to evaluate their self and the idea of personal agency itself. The risk mount with every tick, delivering a paranormal ride that harmonizes unearthly horror with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke ancestral fear, an presence from ancient eras, manipulating soul-level flaws, and testing a force that erodes the self when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something outside normal anguish. She is oblivious until the curse activates, and that pivot is bone-chilling because it is so visceral.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be available for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering viewers from coast to coast can enjoy this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its first trailer, which has earned over strong viewer count.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, extending the thrill to a worldwide audience.


Experience this haunted journey into fear. Confront *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to see these chilling revelations about existence.


For teasers, special features, and promotions from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit youngandcursed.com.





Contemporary horror’s watershed moment: the year 2025 U.S. release slate Mixes primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, together with IP aftershocks

Moving from endurance-driven terror steeped in legendary theology and stretching into series comebacks together with focused festival visions, 2025 is shaping up as the most variegated and tactically planned year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, at the same time streamers load up the fall with new perspectives plus legend-coded dread. In parallel, horror’s indie wing is riding the momentum from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Since Halloween is the prized date, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: The Return of Prestige Fear

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, but a sharp contemporary setting. Directed by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. targeting mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Early reactions hint at fangs.

At summer’s close, the WB camp releases the last chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re teams, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: period tinged dread, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. The stakes escalate here, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The next entry deepens the tale, builds out the animatronic fear crew, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It posts in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a close quarters body horror study starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is an astute call. No bloated mythology. No IP hangover. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. That title, with A24 backing, satirizes toxic fandom during a convention lockdown and is set to pop.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Legacy IP: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Key Trends

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror ascends again
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Debuts like Weapons and Sinners carry event framing, not content bins.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Big screen is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Season Ahead: Fall crush plus winter X factor

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. As mythic runs hot, a closing creature or exorcism could still arrive.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 fright Year Ahead: Sequels, non-franchise titles, alongside A stacked Calendar aimed at frights

Dek The fresh genre calendar loads from day one with a January cluster, thereafter stretches through the warm months, and carrying into the year-end corridor, balancing series momentum, original angles, and shrewd calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that turn these films into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror filmmaking has grown into the consistent lever in studio lineups, a vertical that can spike when it lands and still protect the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year re-taught executives that efficiently budgeted shockers can galvanize audience talk, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam translated to the 2025 frame, where resurrections and premium-leaning entries highlighted there is capacity for diverse approaches, from sequel tracks to standalone ideas that perform internationally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with purposeful groupings, a harmony of recognizable IP and new packages, and a sharpened stance on release windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium digital and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now serves as a utility player on the distribution slate. Horror can open on numerous frames, furnish a clear pitch for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and overperform with demo groups that line up on Thursday nights and continue through the second frame if the title delivers. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores conviction in that engine. The calendar rolls out with a thick January window, then uses spring and early summer for balance, while keeping space for a fall corridor that carries into spooky season and past the holiday. The program also spotlights the expanded integration of specialized imprints and streamers that can platform a title, build word of mouth, and grow at the proper time.

An added macro current is series management across ongoing universes and classic IP. The studios are not just mounting another chapter. They are aiming to frame lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a new tone or a talent selection that connects a incoming chapter to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing physical effects work, real effects and distinct locales. That mix offers 2026 a vital pairing of trust and surprise, which is the formula for international play.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount marks the early tempo with two front-of-slate moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the spine, signaling it as both a baton pass and a classic-mode character-centered film. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture conveys a roots-evoking treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected leaning on brand visuals, first images of characters, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites 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 as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will stress. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will hunt mass reach through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever tops horror talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, heartbroken, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man installs an synthetic partner that mutates into a deadly partner. The date sets it at the front of a busy month, with the marketing arm likely to replay viral uncanny stunts and short reels that mixes intimacy and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s releases are sold as signature events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room to maximize 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has made clear that a gritty, makeup-driven treatment can feel elevated on a middle budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that maximizes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, maintaining a consistent supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is presenting as a fresh restart 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 clearer mandate to serve both devotees and new audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign creative around mythos, and monster craft, elements that can increase large-format demand and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror centered on obsessive craft and linguistic texture, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s releases window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ordering that enhances both premiere heat and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video interleaves licensed films with international acquisitions and short theatrical plays when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in deep cuts, using in-app campaigns, fright rows, and programmed rows to sustain interest on the horror cume. Netflix keeps optionality about first-party entries and festival additions, dating horror entries toward the drop and staging as events debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a paired of focused cinema runs and fast windowing this page that converts WOM to subscribers. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to purchase select projects with acclaimed directors or star-driven packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 sequence with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is simple: the same gloomy, 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 corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has announced a theatrical rollout for the title, an positive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then using the December frame to scale. That positioning has been successful for auteur horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception merits. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using select theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their membership.

Series vs standalone

By weight, 2026 tips toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage cultural cachet. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a continental coloration from a ascendant talent. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and director-driven titles provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the assembly is assuring enough to drive advance ticketing and early previews.

The last three-year set contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept streaming intact did not prevent a day-date try from winning when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror hit big in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga reminded the market that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they alter lens and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot consecutively, builds a path for marketing to cross-link entries through personae and themes and to keep assets alive without hiatuses.

Creative tendencies and craft

The filmmaking conversations behind the upcoming entries signal a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Anticipate a rollout that foregrounds tone and tension rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that keeps plot minimal, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for red-band excess, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster aesthetics and world-building, which fit with fan-con activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel primary. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is packed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month winds down 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 real, but the variety of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth persists.

February through May load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 comes February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited advance reveals that put concept first.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can play the holidays when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card use.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: gothic-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 severe boss battle to survive on a remote island as the pecking order tilts and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s practical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting piece that interrogates the fright of a child’s uncertain impressions. Rating: TBA. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A spoof revival that needles of-the-moment horror beats and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 ignites, with an worldly twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a young family snared by older hauntings. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survival-core horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: forthcoming. Production: ongoing. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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-specific language and ancient menace. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and condensed timelines. 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 dumps. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, offering breathing room for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will jostle across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

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

The sleeper chase continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient screen counts, 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 visual texture, aural design, 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.

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is recognizable IP where it plays, fresh vision where it counts, 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, lock the reveals, and let the chills sell the seats.