Mythic Evil Awakens in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling shocker, arriving October 2025 across top streamers

One eerie supernatural horror tale from screenwriter / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primordial force when newcomers become tools in a dark game. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping account of endurance and archaic horror that will resculpt the fear genre this harvest season. Directed by rising master of suspense Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and claustrophobic suspense flick follows five unknowns who arise stranded in a unreachable cottage under the malignant control of Kyra, a tormented girl overtaken by a time-worn biblical force. Ready yourself to be gripped by a immersive experience that merges intense horror with ancient myths, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a long-standing theme in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that tradition is reversed when the demons no longer originate outside the characters, but rather from their core. This represents the deepest layer of all involved. The result is a enthralling psychological battle where the narrative becomes a soul-crushing fight between righteousness and malevolence.


In a remote terrain, five souls find themselves marooned under the malicious presence and grasp of a mysterious spirit. As the protagonists becomes submissive to evade her will, cut off and attacked by presences inconceivable, they are pushed to confront their worst nightmares while the moments without pity counts down toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension builds and partnerships disintegrate, compelling each person to challenge their values and the idea of free will itself. The tension intensify with every minute, delivering a chilling narrative that weaves together demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to dig into primal fear, an power born of forgotten ages, feeding on soul-level flaws, and navigating a power that forces self-examination when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant channeling something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the control shifts, and that pivot is haunting because it is so emotional.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—offering viewers worldwide can enjoy this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original clip, which has garnered over a viral response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, spreading the horror to scare fans abroad.


Witness this haunted path of possession. Confront *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to survive these evil-rooted truths about human nature.


For director insights, director cuts, and reveals from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across media channels and visit our film’s homepage.





American horror’s major pivot: the year 2025 domestic schedule fuses ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, together with franchise surges

Moving from pressure-cooker survival tales infused with mythic scripture all the way to IP renewals and cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is emerging as the richest and precision-timed year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. the big studios plant stakes across the year using marquee IP, while digital services crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs in concert with old-world menace. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is buoyed by the tailwinds of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A fat September–October lane is customary now, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, therefore 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal begins the calendar with a big gambit: a contemporary Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. Booked into mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Led by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

When summer fades, the Warner Bros. banner bows the concluding entry from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retro dread, trauma in the foreground, along with eerie supernatural rules. The bar is raised this go, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, speaking to teens and older millennials. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Plays: Lean budgets, heavy bite

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a close quarters body horror study including Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No sequel clutter. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You are getting buzz not just for their titles but for their execution. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Legacy Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Beyond that, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda dot the year, often holding for windows or late pickups.

Trend Lines

Mythic horror goes mainstream
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror retakes ground
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The oncoming fright release year: brand plays, fresh concepts, as well as A Crowded Calendar designed for shocks

Dek: The new terror calendar stacks immediately with a January bottleneck, before it spreads through June and July, and carrying into the winter holidays, mixing marquee clout, novel approaches, and smart release strategy. The big buyers and platforms are relying on responsible budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and influencer-ready assets that frame these films into mainstream chatter.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The horror sector has shown itself to be the most reliable release in studio lineups, a vertical that can grow when it performs and still mitigate the liability when it under-delivers. After 2023 proved to strategy teams that efficiently budgeted chillers can shape audience talk, 2024 maintained heat with festival-darling auteurs and stealth successes. The tailwind fed into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles signaled there is space for varied styles, from continued chapters to director-led originals that perform internationally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a schedule that seems notably aligned across the field, with purposeful groupings, a combination of established brands and new pitches, and a revived focus on exclusive windows that increase tail monetization on premium digital and streaming.

Buyers contend the horror lane now works like a wildcard on the release plan. The genre can premiere on open real estate, provide a clean hook for ad units and shorts, and overperform with moviegoers that arrive on first-look nights and return through the sophomore frame if the feature satisfies. Exiting a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup reflects trust in that playbook. The slate kicks off with a busy January corridor, then plants flags in spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while reserving space for a fall cadence that flows toward the Halloween frame and into November. The grid also highlights the expanded integration of specialty distributors and streamers that can launch in limited release, spark evangelism, and scale up at the proper time.

A reinforcing pattern is brand strategy across connected story worlds and heritage properties. Studios are not just releasing another next film. They are working to present brand continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a title presentation that indicates a re-angled tone or a ensemble decision that connects a new entry to a classic era. At the concurrently, the creative leads behind the headline-grabbing originals are doubling down on practical craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That pairing produces 2026 a solid mix of familiarity and shock, which is how the films export.

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

Paramount establishes early momentum with two centerpiece releases that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a handoff and a heritage-centered character-centered film. Production is active in Atlanta, and the directional approach signals a nostalgia-forward campaign without looping the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push driven by heritage visuals, character-first teases, and a tease cadence rolling toward 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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will emphasize. As a counterweight in summer, this one will go after general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format enabling quick turns to whatever dominates the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is efficient, soulful, and commercial: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date nudges it to the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to echo uncanny live moments and micro spots that interweaves devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under placeholder labels 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 title reveal to become an earned moment closer to the initial promo. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s work are marketed as event films, with a hinting teaser and a second beat that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend affords Universal to own 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, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, physical-effects centered style can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror blast that maximizes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio deploys two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is selling as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both fans and first-timers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around world-building, and creature work, elements that can lift IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in rigorous craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is supportive.

How the platforms plan to play it

Platform tactics for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate window into copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a tiered path that enhances both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the late-window. Prime Video interleaves acquired titles with cross-border buys and small theatrical windows when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using featured rows, holiday hubs, and programmed rows to prolong the run on the horror cume. Netflix plays opportunist about in-house releases and festival additions, dating horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a hybrid of focused cinema runs and fast windowing 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 horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has been willing to invest in select projects with established auteurs or A-list packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation intensifies.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 slate with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is direct: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern sonics and picture. 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 signaled a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has proved effective for craft-driven horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception drives. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their user base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By tilt, the 2026 slate bends toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on name recognition. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to position each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is promising a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-tinted vision from a buzzed-about director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and advance-audience nights.

Recent comps clarify the logic. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that honored streaming windows did not block a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was compelling. In 2024, auteur craft horror surged in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reorient and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward 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 shot consecutively, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through personae and themes and to leave creative active without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind 2026 horror point to a continued lean toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that leans on grain and menace rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta refresh that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster realization and design, which fit with convention activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel must-have. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that benefit on big speakers.

How the year maps out

January is stacked. 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 marquee brands. The month concludes 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 real, but the tonal variety opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

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

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves 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 performed. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a late-September window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a opaque tease strategy and limited teasers that trade in concept over detail.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming with care, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while have a peek at these guys the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s virtual companion turns into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: algorithmic dread with emotion.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss battle to survive on a far-flung island as the control dynamic reverses and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, shaped by Cronin’s material craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that plays with the horror of a child’s unreliable impressions. Rating: rating pending. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-built and star-fronted eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A spoof revival that skewers contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: pending. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 erupts, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further extends again, with a another family tethered to residual nightmares. Rating: TBD. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-driven horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. 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 period-specific language and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three operational forces frame this lineup. First, production that slowed or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, offering breathing room for genre entries that can control a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 surprise-hit pursuit 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, 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 prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026, Lined Up To Scare

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, protect the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.