Mythic Evil Rises in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding horror thriller, rolling out October 2025 on top digital platforms

An terrifying supernatural fear-driven tale from author / director Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an forgotten entity when passersby become tools in a cursed experiment. Releasing October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving tale of endurance and primordial malevolence that will redefine scare flicks this autumn. Created by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and emotionally thick tale follows five lost souls who regain consciousness isolated in a wooded shack under the malignant rule of Kyra, a troubled woman controlled by a ancient biblical force. Get ready to be absorbed by a screen-based ride that unites bone-deep fear with ancestral stories, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a well-established narrative in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is redefined when the monsters no longer manifest from elsewhere, but rather through their own souls. This symbolizes the darkest dimension of the players. The result is a intense mental war where the drama becomes a brutal fight between innocence and sin.


In a barren terrain, five youths find themselves marooned under the sinister aura and haunting of a secretive woman. As the victims becomes incapacitated to deny her rule, severed and chased by terrors unfathomable, they are pushed to reckon with their worst nightmares while the time ruthlessly pushes forward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety rises and relationships fracture, demanding each soul to question their true nature and the idea of independent thought itself. The hazard intensify with every beat, delivering a frightening tale that weaves together unearthly horror with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to awaken deep fear, an malevolence older than civilization itself, manipulating human fragility, and confronting a force that erodes the self when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is insensitive until the spirit seizes her, and that shift is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing customers from coast to coast can face this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its initial teaser, which has earned over a viral response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, extending the thrill to viewers around the world.


Make sure to see this heart-stopping path of possession. Confront *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to explore these fearful discoveries about our species.


For featurettes, set experiences, and reveals via the production team, follow @YoungAndCursed across entertainment pages and visit the movie’s homepage.





Current horror’s watershed moment: 2025 stateside slate integrates legend-infused possession, art-house nightmares, together with returning-series thunder

Kicking off with pressure-cooker survival tales rooted in mythic scripture to brand-name continuations as well as sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 appears poised to be the most stratified plus calculated campaign year since the mid-2010s.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. Major studios bookend the months via recognizable brands, in parallel streamers prime the fall with debut heat set against legend-coded dread. In parallel, the artisan tier is catching the backdraft of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, but this year, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, hence 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige terror resurfaces

The top end is active. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal Pictures leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. Guided by Leigh Whannell fronted by Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Under Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer tapers, the Warner Bros. banner drops the final chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson returns, and those signature textures resurface: old school creep, trauma foregrounded, with spooky supernatural reasoning. 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, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, stretches the animatronic parade, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It lands in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A leading ambitious platform entry is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, an intimate body horror unraveling including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Also rising is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Shaped and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As dusk gives way to night, Kyra’s grip intensifies, a violating force plundering fears, vulnerabilities, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 overinflated mythology. No franchise baggage. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

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

Streaming originals get teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. 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. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Outlook: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals 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. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The new fright release year: next chapters, Originals, as well as A jammed Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The brand-new horror season loads early with a January wave, thereafter rolls through summer, and running into the festive period, braiding IP strength, new voices, and shrewd calendar placement. Distributors with platforms are embracing right-sized spends, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that shape these pictures into water-cooler talk.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The horror marketplace has become the consistent play in release plans, a lane that can break out when it connects and still limit the drawdown when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year proved to greenlighters that cost-conscious shockers can drive mainstream conversation, 2024 held pace with visionary-driven titles and slow-burn breakouts. The tailwind carried into 2025, where legacy revivals and elevated films highlighted there is demand for a variety of tones, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that perform internationally. The upshot for 2026 is a programming that looks unusually coordinated across the major shops, with mapped-out bands, a mix of known properties and novel angles, and a tightened focus on big-screen windows that power the aftermarket on PVOD and streaming.

Insiders argue the genre now slots in as a fill-in ace on the slate. The genre can arrive on many corridors, supply a clean hook for ad units and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with crowds that respond on previews Thursday and sustain through the week two if the movie fires. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping reflects conviction in that playbook. The slate launches with a thick January run, then taps spring and early summer for audience offsets, while leaving room for a October build that connects to spooky season and afterwards. The program also underscores the deeper integration of indie distributors and platforms that can develop over weeks, grow buzz, and scale up at the optimal moment.

Another broad trend is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. The players are not just pushing another return. They are shaping as lore continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a refreshed voice or a casting choice that threads a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the parallel to that, the auteurs behind the high-profile originals are prioritizing hands-on technique, real effects and location-forward worlds. That mix provides the 2026 slate a confident blend of comfort and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount opens strong with two front-of-slate titles that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, angling it as both a lineage transfer and a return-to-roots character piece. Production is active in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a heritage-honoring framework without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. Look for a marketing run stacked with heritage visuals, character previews, and a staggered trailer plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will lean on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will seek large awareness through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format enabling quick redirects to whatever tops the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three separate projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is straightforward, loss-driven, and commercial: a grieving man adopts an synthetic partner that turns into a perilous partner. The date places it at the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to replay strange in-person beats and short reels that interlaces attachment and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a public title to become an event moment closer to the first trailer. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. His projects are framed as marquee events, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The Halloween runway gives the studio room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a in-your-face, in-camera leaning approach can feel premium on a middle budget. Expect a splatter summer horror shock that pushes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, carrying a steady supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where the brand has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what the studio is framing as a reimagined 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 fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot allows Sony to build campaign pieces around canon, and creature design, elements that can accelerate premium screens and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and historical speech, this time orbiting lycan myth. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform windowing in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre slate transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a structure that optimizes both debut momentum and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in deep cuts, using prominent placements, genre hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on lifetime take. Netflix plays opportunist about internal projects and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries closer to drop and making event-like debuts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a tiered of targeted cinema placements and swift platform pivots that turns chatter to conversion. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to secure select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly activity when the genre conversation builds.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 arc with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is clean: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, managing the title through autumn festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday frame to expand. That positioning has served the company well for auteur horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception supports. Plan on 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 jointly, using limited runs to seed evangelism that fuels their community.

Legacy titles versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series 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 workable fix is to market each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is spotlighting relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a European tilt from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and filmmaker-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a marooned survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the cast-creatives package is assuring enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday previews.

Comparable trends from recent years help explain the model. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that held distribution windows did not preclude a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror rose in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they angle differently and widen scale. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, enables marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to leave creative active without lulls.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft conversations behind the year’s horror indicate a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores aura and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in feature stories and craft spotlights before rolling out a tease that withholds plot, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and spurs shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta pivot that centers an original star. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature and environment design, which are ideal for con floor moments and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that work in PLF.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is stacked. Universal’s 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 tonal palate cleanser amid heftier brand moves. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the spread of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

Winter into spring load in summer. Scream 7 opens February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

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 thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a transitional slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a slow-reveal plan and limited previews that elevate concept over story.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card burn.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative returns to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s digital partner turns into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revered infection cycle.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: mood-led 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 push to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order turns and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to menace, built on Cronin’s material craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that twists the fright of a child’s shaky read. Rating: not yet rated. Production: post-ready. Positioning: major-studio and marquee-led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers returning creatively. Logline: {A send-up revival that pokes at hot-button genre motifs and true crime fixations. Rating: pending. Production: cameras due to roll 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 detonates, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized 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 clan linked imp source to old terrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: closely held. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving forward. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period language and elemental menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that stalled or re-slotted in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more structured 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 launches. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest social-ready stingers from test screenings, controlled scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

A fourth factor is programming math. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

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

The sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-mid budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, acoustics, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, protect the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.