Primordial Horror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising supernatural thriller, bowing Oct 2025 across major streaming services

An hair-raising mystic terror film from author / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an age-old horror when passersby become pawns in a diabolical ordeal. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing story of resilience and primeval wickedness that will reconstruct the fear genre this fall. Directed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and tone-heavy feature follows five individuals who awaken confined in a remote cabin under the aggressive dominion of Kyra, a cursed figure dominated by a time-worn holy text monster. Get ready to be shaken by a immersive journey that merges intense horror with folklore, arriving on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a iconic tradition in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is inverted when the entities no longer form outside the characters, but rather from their core. This illustrates the shadowy layer of the players. The result is a harrowing mind game where the conflict becomes a brutal battle between divinity and wickedness.


In a isolated forest, five figures find themselves caught under the malevolent influence and curse of a uncanny being. As the victims becomes powerless to resist her curse, detached and hunted by powers indescribable, they are made to battle their inner demons while the seconds brutally ticks onward toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety grows and relationships erode, urging each character to question their personhood and the nature of personal agency itself. The hazard accelerate with every minute, delivering a paranormal ride that blends spiritual fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to explore raw dread, an darkness from prehistory, embedding itself in human fragility, and testing a force that strips down our being when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra called for internalizing something beyond human emotion. She is innocent until the entity awakens, and that metamorphosis is eerie because it is so emotional.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering customers across the world can experience this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first preview, which has seen over 100,000 views.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, exporting the fear to global fright lovers.


Make sure to see this unforgettable ride through nightmares. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these terrifying truths about free will.


For sneak peeks, on-set glimpses, and social posts from behind the lens, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across platforms and visit the official website.





American horror’s decisive shift: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule integrates primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, and brand-name tremors

Moving from life-or-death fear inspired by mythic scripture and including canon extensions paired with cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is coalescing into the most dimensioned paired with intentionally scheduled year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Major studios lock in tentpoles using marquee IP, while platform operators stack the fall with debut heat plus ancient terrors. On the festival side, indie storytellers is catching the afterglow of 2024’s record festival wave. As Halloween stays the prime week, the other windows are mapped with care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, however this time, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are targeted, as a result 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s slate kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in a clear present-tense world. Steered 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. arriving mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Eli Craig directs including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s slate unveils the final movement from its dependable horror line: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even with a familiar chassis, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 follows. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: period tinged dread, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. This run ups the stakes, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The follow up digs further into canon, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, bridging teens and legacy players. It arrives in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatrical skews franchise first, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a body horror chamber piece anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Set at a remote rental during a getaway that sours, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and 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.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Rather than another exorcism film centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

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 looks like sharp programming. No swollen lore. No continuity burden. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

What to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror retakes ground
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The forthcoming 2026 spook slate: Sequels, universe starters, and also A hectic Calendar geared toward goosebumps

Dek: The current horror season builds early with a January bottleneck, then unfolds through June and July, and pushing into the holidays, mixing name recognition, untold stories, and tactical counterprogramming. Studios and platforms are focusing on cost discipline, exclusive theatrical windows first, and platform-native promos that elevate genre releases into all-audience topics.

Horror momentum into 2026

The field has emerged as the most reliable counterweight in studio calendars, a segment that can accelerate when it breaks through and still buffer the exposure when it misses. After 2023 reconfirmed for greenlighters that disciplined-budget chillers can dominate pop culture, the following year held pace with buzzy auteur projects and word-of-mouth wins. The run moved into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and awards-minded projects confirmed there is a lane for multiple flavors, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The sum for 2026 is a lineup that presents tight coordination across companies, with defined corridors, a balance of marquee IP and new pitches, and a tightened commitment on release windows that power the aftermarket on premium digital rental and home platforms.

Studio leaders note the category now works like a swing piece on the distribution slate. Horror can open on numerous frames, supply a clean hook for creative and short-form placements, and outstrip with crowds that show up on previews Thursday and hold through the follow-up frame if the feature lands. On the heels of a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 cadence shows belief in that logic. The year begins with a busy January stretch, then turns to spring and early summer for balance, while saving space for a fall run that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and past the holiday. The gridline also highlights the increasing integration of specialty arms and OTT outlets that can build gradually, create conversation, and broaden at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is series management across ongoing universes and long-running brands. Studio teams are not just pushing another follow-up. They are setting up brand continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a reframed mood or a casting move that anchors a new entry to a original cycle. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing physical effects work, practical gags and distinct locales. That pairing delivers 2026 a solid mix of assurance and newness, which is what works overseas.

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

Paramount fires first with two centerpiece bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, setting it up as both a relay and a return-to-roots relationship-driven entry. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the directional approach telegraphs a nostalgia-forward campaign without going over the last two entries’ sisters thread. Anticipate a campaign stacked with heritage visuals, character previews, and a two-beat trailer plan rolling toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via 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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will build general-audience talk through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format enabling quick turns to whatever rules pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three unique releases. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tidy, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an virtual partner that becomes a deadly partner. The date lines it up at the front of a packed window, with the marketing arm likely to reprise uncanny live moments and bite-size content that interweaves longing and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a official title to become an event moment closer to the initial tease. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are positioned as director events, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs 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, prosthetic-heavy style can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio lines up two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, preserving a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is calling a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both fans and first-timers. The fall slot offers Sony space to build promo materials around setting detail, and creature builds, elements that can drive deluxe auditorium demand and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is robust.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform windowing in 2026 run on predictable routes. Universal titles feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a pacing that fortifies both FOMO and subscriber lifts in the tail. Prime Video will mix licensed titles with global originals and limited runs in theaters when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library pulls, using prominent placements, Halloween hubs, and curated strips to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps flexible about originals and festival grabs, slotting horror entries with shorter lead times and framing as events go-lives with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a staged of precision releases and swift platform pivots that translates talk to trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has proven amenable to invest in select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying 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 meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway 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 sell is no-nonsense: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, refined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a big-screen first plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the back half.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, curating the rollout through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to expand. That positioning has shown results for auteur horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can widen if reception encourages. Anticipate 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 targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their user base.

Legacy titles versus originals

By volume, 2026 skews toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use marquee value. The caveat, as ever, is viewer burnout. The pragmatic answer is to frame each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-inflected take from a ascendant talent. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-led entries bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the cast-creatives package is recognizable enough to build this content pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Rolling three-year comps contextualize the approach. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept clean windows did not stop a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was robust. In 2024, auteur craft horror hit big in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they rotate perspective and stretch the story. 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, creates space for marketing to link the films through character spine and themes and to leave creative active without long breaks.

How the look and feel evolve

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind this slate foreshadow a continued bias toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that emphasizes texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in deep-dive features and technical spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster work and world-building, which align with convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a theatrical sound showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

From winter to holidays

January is jammed. Universal’s 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 atmospheric change-up amid heavier IP. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the tonal variety opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May set up the summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The 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 underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can deliver next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late-season stretch leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil follows September 18, a pre-October slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will absorb cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited disclosures that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, deliberate rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to linger in conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card use.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s genome. 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 widowed man’s virtual companion shifts into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

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

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss work to survive on a remote island as the power balance inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, founded on Cronin’s hands-on craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that mediates the fear via a youth’s shifting internal vantage. Rating: TBA. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that riffs on of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fervors. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: cameras due to roll fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites bursts, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan tethered to old terrors. Rating: TBA. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: awaiting public disclosure. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-core horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBA. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: not yet rated. Production: active. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 antique diction and elemental fear. Rating: forthcoming. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 lands now

Three execution-level forces organize this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outperformed straight-to-streaming launches. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine repeatable beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can command a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will cluster across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, 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 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, 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 fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, aural design, and visual design 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 Is Well Positioned

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is franchise muscle where it helps, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, guard the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.