Primordial Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding chiller, launching October 2025 on leading streamers

An chilling supernatural suspense story from literary architect / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an long-buried malevolence when unknowns become instruments in a supernatural struggle. Streaming on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing saga of overcoming and primeval wickedness that will redefine the fear genre this October. Created by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and shadowy screenplay follows five individuals who come to imprisoned in a hidden structure under the ominous will of Kyra, a cursed figure possessed by a biblical-era ancient fiend. Prepare to be captivated by a screen-based adventure that unites bodily fright with ancient myths, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a classic motif in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is subverted when the presences no longer arise outside the characters, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the shadowy element of each of them. The result is a emotionally raw moral showdown where the story becomes a merciless push-pull between righteousness and malevolence.


In a isolated wild, five adults find themselves cornered under the ghastly influence and domination of a enigmatic being. As the characters becomes submissive to combat her dominion, marooned and preyed upon by unknowns ungraspable, they are forced to confront their worst nightmares while the moments unceasingly counts down toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust builds and alliances dissolve, driving each person to doubt their core and the idea of independent thought itself. The risk rise with every heartbeat, delivering a chilling narrative that marries ghostly evil with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to draw upon deep fear, an evil that existed before mankind, channeling itself through emotional fractures, and dealing with a presence that dismantles free will when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra called for internalizing something beneath mortal despair. She is blind until the curse activates, and that shift is emotionally raw because it is so internal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—offering fans anywhere can enjoy this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has been viewed over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, taking the terror to a worldwide audience.


Avoid skipping this unforgettable path of possession. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to uncover these fearful discoveries about the human condition.


For sneak peeks, special features, and updates straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





U.S. horror’s inflection point: the year 2025 American release plan weaves archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, together with Franchise Rumbles

Moving from fight-to-live nightmare stories inspired by old testament echoes and extending to brand-name continuations in concert with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 looks like the most stratified plus precision-timed year of the last decade.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. leading studios plant stakes across the year using marquee IP, simultaneously streaming platforms pack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs plus legend-coded dread. At the same time, indie storytellers is drafting behind the echoes from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Since Halloween is the prized date, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, however this time, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are targeted, as a result 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

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

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with a risk-forward move: a refashioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. dated for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Steered by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: retrograde shiver, trauma driven plotting, plus otherworld rules that chill. Here the stakes rise, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The next entry deepens the tale, stretches the animatronic parade, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It hits in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Economy, maximum dread

While cinemas swing on series strength, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a body horror duet featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story with Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is an astute call. No swollen lore. No IP hangover. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Badges as Fuel

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.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Breaking with earlier shading, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, steered by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

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

Originals on platforms bite harder
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. 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. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 fear lineup: brand plays, standalone ideas, And A hectic Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The new genre calendar packs in short order with a January logjam, and then unfolds through the warm months, and straight through the late-year period, marrying brand heft, original angles, and data-minded counterplay. Distributors with platforms are relying on tight budgets, theatrical leads, and buzz-forward plans that transform genre releases into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This category has become the dependable counterweight in distribution calendars, a space that can surge when it catches and still limit the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 showed studio brass that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with high-profile filmmaker pieces and quiet over-performers. The trend extended into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and critical darlings proved there is an opening for diverse approaches, from series extensions to one-and-done originals that translate worldwide. The sum for 2026 is a programming that appears tightly organized across the field, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of marquee IP and original hooks, and a re-energized emphasis on exhibition windows that fuel later windows on premium rental and digital services.

Executives say the genre now behaves like a fill-in ace on the calendar. Horror can kick off on nearly any frame, supply a clear pitch for spots and reels, and overperform with audiences that turn out on advance nights and hold through the second weekend if the entry connects. Following a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence underscores faith in that model. The slate commences with a front-loaded January window, then plants flags in spring and early summer for contrast, while holding room for a late-year stretch that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into early November. The grid also underscores the stronger partnership of indie arms and streamers that can stage a platform run, build word of mouth, and expand at the precise moment.

An added macro current is legacy care across shared IP webs and classic IP. The studios are not just releasing another continuation. They are setting up lore continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title design that signals a reframed mood or a cast configuration that threads a next film to a initial period. At the in tandem, the filmmakers behind the most anticipated originals are favoring practical craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That pairing produces the 2026 slate a solid mix of recognition and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two spotlight moves that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a legacy handover and a DNA-forward character-first story. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the directional approach announces a legacy-leaning mode without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Count on a promo wave centered on classic imagery, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm timed to late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will play up. As a summer contrast play, this one will hunt wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three specific releases. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is simple, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an machine companion that escalates into a harmful mate. The date lines it up at the front of a thick month, with Universal’s marketing likely to reprise viral uncanny stunts and short-form creative that threads longing and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a proper title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are treated as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second beat that signal tone without plot the concept. The Halloween runway gives Universal room to saturate 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 steers, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has proven that a blood-soaked, in-camera leaning treatment can feel elevated on a disciplined budget. Look for a grime-caked summer horror charge that emphasizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, keeping a bankable supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is marketing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both core fans and casuals. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build campaign creative around canon, and monster aesthetics, elements that can drive IMAX and PLF uptake and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by immersive craft and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus’s team has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is positive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal’s releases transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that fortifies both launch urgency and trial spikes in the tail. Prime Video will mix acquired titles with worldwide buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in archive usage, using prominent placements, Halloween hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the horror cume. Netflix retains agility about internal projects and festival acquisitions, dating horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around arrivals with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a one-two of targeted cinema placements and short jumps to platform that turns chatter to conversion. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a selective basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with top-tier auteurs or star packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet award rules or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation builds.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is tight: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, elevated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to widen. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful 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 surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Known brands versus new stories

By tilt, the 2026 slate favors the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The risk, as ever, is diminishing returns. The operating solution is to market each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a European tilt from a rising filmmaker. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries provide the air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the team and cast is steady enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent-year comps outline the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that preserved streaming windows did not deter a day-date move from performing when the brand was potent. In 2024, art-forward horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, lets marketing to relate entries through character spine and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without doldrums.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the upcoming entries suggest a continued turn toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that elevates creep and texture rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and earns shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in convention activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel necessary. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is packed. 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 moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tone spread ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Post-January through spring stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

August and September into October leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder season window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited teasers that center concept over reveals.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and card redemption.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s machine mate unfolds into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss claw to survive on a remote island as the control balance flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. 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 confidential in official materials. get redirected here Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting scenario that channels the fear through a youngster’s uncertain inner lens. Rating: forthcoming. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven 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 parody reboot that satirizes current genre trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: not yet rated. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 breaks out, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new family entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A reboot designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward pure survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: pending. 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: unrevealed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on antique diction and elemental fear. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces organize this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, offering breathing room for genre entries that can control a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 lean-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 left-field winner 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, sound, and cinematography 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, Ready To Roar

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand equity where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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 final-hour specialty addition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.