Primordial Terror reawakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked shocker, launching October 2025 on leading streamers

An bone-chilling occult thriller from writer / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, liberating an mythic entity when outsiders become puppets in a demonic ordeal. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking narrative of continuance and age-old darkness that will alter terror storytelling this spooky time. Realized by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and immersive film follows five strangers who regain consciousness locked in a wilderness-bound cabin under the dark sway of Kyra, a young woman inhabited by a millennia-old sacrosanct terror. Ready yourself to be absorbed by a visual event that weaves together gut-punch terror with biblical origins, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a recurring theme in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is twisted when the demons no longer appear outside the characters, but rather deep within. This portrays the haunting side of all involved. The result is a riveting psychological battle where the events becomes a merciless clash between moral forces.


In a isolated forest, five figures find themselves caught under the malicious presence and inhabitation of a unknown female figure. As the victims becomes unable to deny her control, disconnected and tormented by forces beyond comprehension, they are cornered to deal with their core terrors while the final hour coldly ticks toward their demise.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion surges and partnerships erode, pushing each character to contemplate their essence and the integrity of free will itself. The danger amplify with every instant, delivering a fear-soaked story that harmonizes supernatural terror with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to tap into elemental fright, an darkness that predates humanity, working through human fragility, and exposing a will that tests the soul when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is clueless until the curse activates, and that change is shocking because it is so raw.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be released for public screening beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering subscribers globally can survive this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its first trailer, which has attracted over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, extending the thrill to global fright lovers.


Do not miss this cinematic descent into hell. Experience *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to uncover these evil-rooted truths about the soul.


For cast commentary, filmmaker commentary, and announcements from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across media channels and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s major pivot: 2025 stateside slate weaves Mythic Possession, signature indie scares, alongside franchise surges

Spanning survivor-centric dread grounded in mythic scripture and extending to canon extensions as well as acutely observed indies, 2025 is shaping up as the most complex in tandem with strategic year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios hold down the year with franchise anchors, as streaming platforms crowd the fall with debut heat plus old-world menace. On the independent axis, the art-house flank is carried on the backdraft from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are disciplined, and 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige fear returns

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner sets the tone with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. Led by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and 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 helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. From director Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. Pictures releases the last chapter within its surest horror brand: 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. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson is back, and those signature textures resurface: retrograde shiver, trauma as text, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This run ups the stakes, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It lands in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Plays: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a two hander body horror spiral anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn with Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It reads as sharp positioning. No swollen lore. No continuity burden. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Heat to Market Leverage

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. 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.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy Lines: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forecast: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next genre lineup: next chapters, Originals, alongside A packed Calendar geared toward goosebumps

Dek: The arriving horror year clusters right away with a January glut, before it carries through summer corridors, and continuing into the winter holidays, braiding IP strength, creative pitches, and strategic counterprogramming. Studios with streamers are betting on smart costs, box-office-first windows, and social-driven marketing that convert horror entries into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror filmmaking has established itself as the bankable lever in release strategies, a corner that can expand when it performs and still hedge the drawdown when it underperforms. After the 2023 year re-taught top brass that cost-conscious horror vehicles can steer the national conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with signature-voice projects and sleeper breakouts. The carry carried into 2025, where reawakened brands and prestige plays demonstrated there is appetite for many shades, from franchise continuations to standalone ideas that play globally. The takeaway for 2026 is a calendar that is strikingly coherent across the major shops, with strategic blocks, a combination of recognizable IP and novel angles, and a reinvigorated emphasis on big-screen windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium video on demand and home platforms.

Insiders argue the genre now performs as a versatile piece on the grid. The genre can launch on nearly any frame, supply a tight logline for trailers and TikTok spots, and outpace with moviegoers that lean in on preview nights and stick through the sophomore frame if the picture hits. Coming out of a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 configuration underscores conviction in that model. The year starts with a crowded January block, then taps spring and early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a late-year stretch that connects to the Halloween frame and into early November. The map also highlights the increasing integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can grow from platform, create conversation, and grow at the timely point.

A further high-level trend is brand management across connected story worlds and heritage properties. The studios are not just greenlighting another return. They are seeking to position ongoing narrative with a sense of event, whether that is a title treatment that announces a new tone or a cast configuration that ties a next film to a initial period. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the most watched originals are returning to real-world builds, practical gags and grounded locations. That alloy affords the 2026 slate a strong blend of assurance and newness, which is the formula for international play.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount leads early with two headline bets that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the lead, presenting it as both a relay and a rootsy character piece. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach telegraphs a memory-charged angle without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. A campaign is expected anchored in brand visuals, early character teases, and a rollout cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counter-slot, this one will pursue four-quadrant chatter through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever tops the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three clear plays. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is simple, loss-driven, and easily pitched: a grieving man implements an artificial companion that mutates into a deadly partner. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s promo team likely to renew viral uncanny stunts and micro spots that hybridizes affection and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under temporary titles 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 title reveal to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. His projects are positioned as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a follow-up trailer set that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-month date gives Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright Source window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has long shown that a in-your-face, on-set effects led method can feel premium on a lean spend. Look for a gore-forward summer horror charge that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

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

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is marketing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both players and general audiences. The fall slot lets Sony to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and monster aesthetics, elements that can stoke deluxe auditorium demand and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in textural authenticity and historical speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. The imprint has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a confidence marker in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s slate transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a pacing that optimizes both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video combines catalogue additions with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, Halloween hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on aggregate take. Netflix stays opportunistic about first-party entries and festival grabs, securing horror entries toward the drop and turning into events arrivals with fast-turn plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a two-step of selective theatrical runs and rapid platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with prestige directors or star-driven packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation swells.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 corridor with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is clear: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, upgraded for modern sound and cinematography. 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 announced a cinema-first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the late-season weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, escorting the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday slot to widen. That positioning has proved effective for arthouse horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception warrants. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using select theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Franchises versus originals

By proportion, 2026 favors the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on cultural cachet. The concern, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to present each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-flavored turn from a ascendant talent. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the team and cast is recognizable enough to generate pre-sales and Thursday previews.

The last three-year set illuminate the model. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that honored streaming windows did not obstruct a day-and-date experiment from succeeding when the brand was compelling. In 2024, art-forward horror hit big in premium large format. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they shift POV and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to link the films through character and theme and to keep assets alive without long gaps.

Craft and creative trends

The creative meetings behind the upcoming entries point to a continued emphasis on tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that foregrounds creep and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-correct language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead press and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable reaction clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature execution and sets, which match well with convention floor stunts and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

Release calendar overview

January is busy. 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 quiet contrast amid bigger brand plays. The month finishes 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 legit, but the variety of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth persists.

Late winter and spring set up the summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once played to genre counterprogramming and now hosts big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps 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 playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film holds October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a minimalist tease strategy and limited information drops that elevate concept over story.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday gift-card burn.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her hard-edged boss work to survive on a uninhabited island as the chain of command tilts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. 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 under wraps in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s material craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


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

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that satirizes current genre trends and true crime fixations. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 surges, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: shooting 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: TBD. Logline: The Further reopens, with a new clan entangled with lingering terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A new start designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. 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: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: pending. Production: continuing. 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 bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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: date variable, fall window probable.

Why 2026, why now

Three workable forces shape this lineup. First, production that slowed or recalendared in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest bite-size scare clips from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will line up across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, 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 beat and breadth. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate 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 command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, sound, 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

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is name recognition where it counts, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the gasps sell the seats.