Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed releases age-old dread, a fear soaked thriller, premiering Oct 2025 on leading streamers

One blood-curdling spectral suspense film from creator / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an archaic dread when newcomers become vehicles in a fiendish game. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping story of struggle and prehistoric entity that will reimagine fear-driven cinema this autumn. Brought to life by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and eerie screenplay follows five lost souls who regain consciousness isolated in a far-off structure under the malevolent grip of Kyra, a troubled woman occupied by a millennia-old biblical demon. Brace yourself to be seized by a cinematic ride that integrates intense horror with ancestral stories, coming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Hellish influence has been a historical narrative in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is reversed when the fiends no longer emerge from a different plane, but rather inside them. This illustrates the most hidden version of every character. The result is a intense cognitive warzone where the narrative becomes a soul-crushing contest between good and evil.


In a wilderness-stricken wild, five friends find themselves isolated under the malicious grip and overtake of a uncanny being. As the team becomes incapable to resist her manipulation, detached and hunted by unknowns mind-shattering, they are thrust to wrestle with their soulful dreads while the countdown ruthlessly ticks toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust intensifies and teams collapse, pushing each protagonist to contemplate their identity and the philosophy of self-determination itself. The hazard surge with every second, delivering a scare-fueled ride that combines paranormal dread with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to evoke pure dread, an spirit beyond time, manifesting in our weaknesses, and examining a power that questions who we are when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is ignorant until the curse activates, and that metamorphosis is gut-wrenching because it is so visceral.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be released for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering audiences in all regions can be part of this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its original promo, which has been viewed over 100,000 views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, delivering the story to thrill-seekers globally.


Do not miss this unforgettable exploration of dread. Stream *Young & Cursed* this launch day to explore these ghostly lessons about the psyche.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and alerts from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit our film’s homepage.





American horror’s tipping point: 2025 for genre fans American release plan fuses old-world possession, signature indie scares, together with tentpole growls

Beginning with pressure-cooker survival tales inspired by primordial scripture to canon extensions as well as keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted and strategic year in recent memory.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. leading studios bookend the months with established lines, simultaneously platform operators load up the fall with first-wave breakthroughs alongside legend-coded dread. On the independent axis, the independent cohort is fueled by the carry of 2024’s record festival wave. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige terror resurfaces

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 doubles down.

Universal begins the calendar with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. Slated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. From director Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

When summer fades, the Warner lot releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Despite a known recipe, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: nostalgic menace, trauma foregrounded, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, builds out the animatronic fear crew, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It arrives in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Tight funds, wide impact

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a two hander body horror spiral anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is virtually assured for fall.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. An inward possession, not an outward spell, turns the trope and sets Young & Cursed inside a widening trend, intimate character work housed in genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overweight mythology. No brand fatigue. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

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. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

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

Legacy IP: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under 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.

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

Dials to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This trend avoids nostalgia, reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

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

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop 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 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The new terror cycle: installments, standalone ideas, and also A Crowded Calendar aimed at chills

Dek The incoming horror calendar packs early with a January wave, subsequently unfolds through the mid-year, and continuing into the holiday frame, combining IP strength, new voices, and well-timed counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are betting on right-sized spends, big-screen-first runs, and social-driven marketing that frame these releases into water-cooler talk.

Horror momentum into 2026

The genre has solidified as the consistent play in distribution calendars, a corner that can expand when it connects and still hedge the drag when it fails to connect. After 2023 signaled to strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can dominate social chatter, the following year maintained heat with director-led heat and slow-burn breakouts. The head of steam fed into the 2025 frame, where reboots and festival-grade titles confirmed there is space for diverse approaches, from legacy continuations to filmmaker-driven originals that perform internationally. The result for the 2026 slate is a run that looks unusually coordinated across the market, with defined corridors, a blend of legacy names and new packages, and a tightened strategy on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium rental and home platforms.

Buyers contend the genre now slots in as a fill-in ace on the release plan. Horror can roll out on numerous frames, furnish a tight logline for previews and UGC-friendly snippets, and outpace with crowds that respond on previews Thursday and hold through the second weekend if the title connects. In the wake of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 setup telegraphs certainty in that model. The calendar kicks off with a stacked January stretch, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that extends to late October and into November. The calendar also includes the ongoing integration of indie distributors and streamers that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and expand at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is brand curation across shared universes and heritage properties. The players are not just producing another continuation. They are setting up threaded continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a title treatment that indicates a new vibe or a casting choice that reconnects a next entry to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are prioritizing real-world builds, real effects and grounded locations. That mix provides the 2026 slate a robust balance of recognition and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount defines the early cadence with two high-profile plays that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the spine, steering it as both a succession moment and a DNA-forward character-first story. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a legacy-leaning mode without looping the last two entries’ sisters storyline. A campaign is expected fueled by brand visuals, character previews, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s cinema pipeline.

Paramount also reboots 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 as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will spotlight. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after broad awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format making room for quick adjustments to whatever owns genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The story engine is clean, melancholic, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man sets up an digital partner that mutates into a killer companion. The date sets it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to renew creepy live activations and micro spots that fuses devotion and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a branding reveal to become an earned moment closer to the teaser. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele projects are treated as marquee events, with a mystery-first teaser and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date affords Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček heads, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has long shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven mix can feel prestige on a middle budget. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror blast that embraces international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio mounts two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what the studio is billing as a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both diehards and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can increase format premiums and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in immersive craft and linguistic texture, this time exploring werewolf lore. The imprint has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal titles transition to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ladder that optimizes both FOMO and subscriber lifts in the late-window. Prime Video combines library titles with international acquisitions and targeted theatrical runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library pulls, using seasonal hubs, Halloween hubs, and featured rows to prolong the run on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps options open about Netflix originals and festival buys, scheduling horror entries closer to launch and staging as events arrivals with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a staged of precision releases and prompt platform moves that drives paid trials from buzz. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with name filmmakers or headline-cast packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 corridor with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clear: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, recalibrated for modern mix 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. Cineverse has positioned a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the fall weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, managing the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas window to open out. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-driven genre with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a sprinkle of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By skew, 2026 skews toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit legacy awareness. The imp source risk, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to frame each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is bringing forward character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a emerging director. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and visionary-led titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on familiar IP, the configuration is grounded enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Recent comps illuminate the playbook. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that observed windows did not foreclose a day-and-date experiment from performing when the brand was powerful. In 2024, director-craft horror outperformed in premium large format. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they alter lens and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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, enables marketing to tie installments through relationships and themes and to keep assets in-market without long breaks.

Creative tendencies and craft

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films telegraph a continued preference for real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that withholds plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta reframe that centers an original star. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature work and production design, which lend themselves to convention activations and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that underscore hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in big rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is jammed. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid macro-brand pushes. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tonal variety opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth persists.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now backs 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 heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a bridge slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited previews that stress concept over spoilers.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can play the holidays when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s intelligent companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

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 confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 cut-off island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s practical craft and suffocating dread. great post to read Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. 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 in-home haunting tale that interrogates the dread of a child’s inconsistent point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed and marquee-led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that riffs on present-day genre chatter and true-crime obsessions. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: ferocious R chapter primed for premium screens.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new clan entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survivalist horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: forthcoming. Production: ongoing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-accurate language and primal menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the 2026 timing works

Three pragmatic forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, managed scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

The slot calculus is real. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will line up across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 midrange-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 work those windows. January could easily deliver the first surprise over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, optimized footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing texture, aural design, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the shocks sell the seats.