Primeval Terror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding chiller, streaming October 2025 across premium platforms

A bone-chilling ghostly nightmare movie from dramatist / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an prehistoric entity when passersby become proxies in a devilish experiment. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing tale of resistance and forgotten curse that will reimagine genre cinema this October. Helmed by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and gothic tale follows five people who emerge imprisoned in a wilderness-bound cabin under the ominous rule of Kyra, a female lead haunted by a legendary Old Testament spirit. Brace yourself to be shaken by a audio-visual event that fuses visceral dread with mystical narratives, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a long-standing narrative in the movies. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is subverted when the demons no longer develop beyond the self, but rather inside their minds. This represents the most sinister part of the group. The result is a gripping emotional conflict where the drama becomes a intense face-off between light and darkness.


In a isolated woodland, five individuals find themselves sealed under the possessive influence and domination of a uncanny character. As the survivors becomes helpless to reject her control, isolated and hunted by creatures inconceivable, they are required to encounter their soulful dreads while the final hour ruthlessly winds toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia rises and friendships shatter, coercing each member to scrutinize their values and the idea of decision-making itself. The hazard accelerate with every instant, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that fuses supernatural terror with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to dig into primal fear, an malevolence born of forgotten ages, emerging via inner turmoil, and examining a presence that questions who we are when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra involved tapping into something more primal than sorrow. She is innocent until the invasion happens, and that evolution is emotionally raw because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing audiences from coast to coast can dive into this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its initial teaser, which has seen over six-figure audience.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, bringing the film to a worldwide audience.


Don’t miss this mind-warping voyage through terror. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to acknowledge these evil-rooted truths about the mind.


For teasers, production news, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit our horror hub.





Current horror’s Turning Point: the 2025 season U.S. rollouts blends archetypal-possession themes, independent shockers, stacked beside IP aftershocks

Moving from endurance-driven terror suffused with mythic scripture to franchise returns and incisive indie visions, 2025 is emerging as the most stratified plus intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio majors stabilize the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously premium streamers flood the fall with first-wave breakthroughs as well as legend-coded dread. On the festival side, the art-house flank is propelled 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 dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, and now, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are exacting, as a result 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 scales the plan.

the Universal banner opens the year with a marquee bet: a refreshed Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, instead in a current-day frame. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

At summer’s close, Warner’s schedule drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Though the outline is tried, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: old school creep, trauma explicitly handled, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time, the stakes are raised, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The continuation widens the legend, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Slim budgets, major punch

While the big screen favors titles you know, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a close quarters body horror study anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Even without a formal platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale featuring 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 project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No swollen lore. No legacy baggage. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

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. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, led by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without 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.

Signals and Trends

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forecast: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With some of the year’s biggest films leaning dark and mythic, the space for one final creature feature or exorcism flick is wide open.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The new spook season: entries, universe starters, as well as A hectic Calendar engineered for jolts

Dek The fresh scare year crowds from the jump with a January bottleneck, after that stretches through peak season, and well into the holiday stretch, weaving brand equity, creative pitches, and strategic counterplay. Studios and platforms are relying on lean spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and short-form initiatives that turn horror entries into all-audience topics.

Horror’s position as 2026 begins

The genre has turned into the steady tool in studio calendars, a lane that can lift when it performs and still limit the downside when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year reminded leaders that modestly budgeted horror vehicles can own the discourse, the following year kept energy high with signature-voice projects and stealth successes. The head of steam rolled into 2025, where revivals and elevated films confirmed there is demand for many shades, from ongoing IP entries to filmmaker-driven originals that travel well. The sum for 2026 is a schedule that seems notably aligned across studios, with planned clusters, a mix of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a sharpened focus on exclusive windows that drive downstream revenue on premium home window and home streaming.

Studio leaders note the space now slots in as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can open on nearly any frame, offer a grabby hook for ad units and reels, and punch above weight with fans that turn out on early shows and maintain momentum through the next pass if the title satisfies. In the wake of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 mapping demonstrates certainty in that logic. The calendar rolls out with a busy January run, then exploits spring through early summer for audience offsets, while holding room for a fall corridor that reaches into Halloween and past the holiday. The schedule also includes the greater integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and widen at the optimal moment.

A companion trend is brand strategy across connected story worlds and classic IP. Big banners are not just rolling another next film. They are shaping as continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a title design that telegraphs a fresh attitude or a lead change that connects a next film to a original cycle. At the parallel to that, the filmmakers behind the marquee originals are prioritizing practical craft, special makeup and site-specific worlds. That blend provides 2026 a smart balance of assurance and surprise, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount leads early with two big-ticket titles that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the heart, marketing it as both a passing of the torch and a classic-mode character study. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative stance suggests a legacy-leaning approach without recycling the last two entries’ family thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive stacked with franchise iconography, first images of characters, and a promo sequence rolling toward late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after wide appeal through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format permitting quick updates to whatever tops pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three differentiated entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, tragic, and easily pitched: a grieving man activates an intelligent companion that unfolds into a murderous partner. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to replay viral uncanny stunts and short reels that mixes intimacy and dread.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a title reveal to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s pictures are positioned as signature events, with a hinting teaser and a follow-up trailer set that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date gives the studio room to command 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, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, makeup-driven mix can feel deluxe on a disciplined budget. Look for a hard-R summer horror shot that pushes international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio sets two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, keeping a evergreen supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is marketing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and curious audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around world-building, and creature effects, elements that can increase premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

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 advances Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by minute detail and dialect, this time orbiting lycan myth. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is warm.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s releases window into copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that enhances both FOMO and sign-up momentum in the back half. Prime Video pairs licensed content with worldwide buys and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library curation, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and featured rows to keep attention on 2026 genre cume. Netflix retains agility about first-party entries and festival wins, timing horror entries closer to drop and positioning as event drops releases with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a hybrid of targeted cinema placements and prompt platform moves that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ assesses case by case horror on a per-project basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to buy select projects with award winners or star packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualifying rules or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for sustained usage when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 arc with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is simple: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, upgraded for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has telegraphed a cinema-first plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the back half.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday frame to scale. That positioning has paid off for arthouse horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using targeted theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their membership.

Franchises versus originals

By volume, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on legacy awareness. The concern, as ever, is fatigue. The preferred tactic is to frame each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is emphasizing character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a fresh helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival chiller premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the configuration is recognizable enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a same-day experiment from working when the brand was robust. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror rose in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they pivot perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

How the films are being made

The production chatter behind the 2026 entries foreshadow a continued lean toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that foregrounds texture and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in deep-dive features and craft spotlights before rolling out a tease that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta pivot that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on monster aesthetics and world-building, which play well in fan-con activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and blank-sound beats that benefit on big speakers.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the range of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth endures.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows 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 hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event locks October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a opaque tease strategy and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and holiday card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s synthetic partner turns into something deadly romantic. 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 demanding boss fight to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to menace, built on Cronin’s on-set craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting scenario that filters its scares through a minor’s unreliable subjective view. Rating: pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-crafted and headline-actor 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 satirical comeback that pokes at hot-button genre motifs and true crime fixations. Rating: TBD. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a different family caught in long-buried horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A clean reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-centric bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: to be announced. Production: in progress. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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-precise speech and elemental dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why the moment is 2026

Three practical forces define this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and tighter 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, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, precision scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Another factor is the scheduling math. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, making room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will trade weekends across five weekends, which lets WOM accrue cleanly. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 disciplined-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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer 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.

How the year flows for audiences

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

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, aural design, 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 this content conversation as the fall progresses.

A Strong 2026 Horizon

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand equity where it matters, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios grasp the timing 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shudders sell the seats.