Antediluvian Evil emerges: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across leading streamers

A terrifying spectral shockfest from cinematographer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an primeval nightmare when guests become victims in a diabolical ordeal. Streaming this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful saga of resilience and prehistoric entity that will revolutionize terror storytelling this cool-weather season. Realized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and emotionally thick film follows five individuals who suddenly rise trapped in a off-grid hideaway under the hostile dominion of Kyra, a haunted figure controlled by a prehistoric Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be enthralled by a narrative outing that blends primitive horror with spiritual backstory, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a legendary pillar in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is inverted when the presences no longer manifest from elsewhere, but rather inside their minds. This embodies the malevolent dimension of the cast. The result is a enthralling spiritual tug-of-war where the plotline becomes a unforgiving fight between right and wrong.


In a abandoned landscape, five youths find themselves marooned under the dark control and overtake of a uncanny apparition. As the group becomes paralyzed to break her manipulation, isolated and tracked by forces mind-shattering, they are compelled to face their darkest emotions while the countdown brutally ticks onward toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia rises and relationships collapse, requiring each character to rethink their personhood and the idea of autonomy itself. The hazard rise with every passing moment, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses demonic fright with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to evoke core terror, an darkness beyond time, channeling itself through soul-level flaws, and testing a being that peels away humanity when consciousness is fragmented.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Embodying Kyra needed manifesting something beneath mortal despair. She is in denial until the demon emerges, and that shift is harrowing because it is so visceral.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for worldwide release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring viewers around the globe can get immersed in this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its initial teaser, which has collected over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, offering the tale to thrill-seekers globally.


Be sure to catch this gripping journey into fear. Watch *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to acknowledge these ghostly lessons about the psyche.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and news from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit the movie portal.





Modern horror’s watershed moment: 2025 for genre fans stateside slate interlaces archetypal-possession themes, microbudget gut-punches, alongside IP aftershocks

Kicking off with life-or-death fear inspired by biblical myth through to IP renewals plus focused festival visions, 2025 stands to become the genre’s most multifaceted together with tactically planned year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors plant stakes across the year using marquee IP, at the same time SVOD players front-load the fall with discovery plays together with legend-coded dread. Across the art-house lane, horror’s indie wing is drafting behind the uplift of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween stays the prime week, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, distinctly in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, accordingly 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 set the base, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s schedule fires the first shot with a big gambit: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. Slated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring sees the arrival of 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. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial heat flags it as potent.

At summer’s close, Warner Bros. rolls out the capstone from its anchor horror saga: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the finale seeks an emotional close via a signature case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

After that, The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time, the stakes are raised, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The continuation widens the legend, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It bows in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Tight funds, wide impact

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the quieter side is Together, a two hander body horror spiral with Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is virtually assured for fall.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story with Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Authored and directed by 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. It is a clever angle. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is on track for grief tuned elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Long Running Lines: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, under Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror returns
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theaters are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The play is not Get Out replication, it is long life horror past theaters.



The oncoming Horror year to come: continuations, Originals, plus A packed Calendar Built For chills

Dek: The upcoming scare cycle lines up up front with a January bottleneck, thereafter carries through midyear, and well into the holiday frame, weaving name recognition, creative pitches, and smart counterweight. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on lean spends, big-screen-first runs, and buzz-forward plans that frame these films into cross-demo moments.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable lever in release strategies, a corner that can break out when it resonates and still buffer the drawdown when it misses. After the 2023 year showed top brass that mid-range pictures can own audience talk, the following year sustained momentum with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The upswing fed into the 2025 frame, where revivals and arthouse crossovers confirmed there is a lane for varied styles, from series extensions to non-IP projects that scale internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across players, with strategic blocks, a equilibrium of established brands and new packages, and a sharpened eye on box-office windows that drive downstream revenue on premium rental and subscription services.

Executives say the space now behaves like a fill-in ace on the release plan. Horror can launch on almost any weekend, offer a clean hook for marketing and social clips, and outperform with moviegoers that lean in on advance nights and keep coming through the follow-up frame if the feature connects. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 pattern exhibits assurance in that equation. The slate commences with a crowded January lineup, then exploits spring through early summer for alternate plays, while holding room for a late-year stretch that runs into spooky season and past Halloween. The schedule also spotlights the increasing integration of specialty distributors and OTT outlets that can nurture a platform play, fuel WOM, and broaden at the inflection point.

A notable top-line trend is franchise tending across shared universes and heritage properties. Major shops are not just mounting another chapter. They are moving to present story carry-over with a headline quality, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a reframed mood or a casting pivot that binds a new installment to a initial period. At the parallel to that, the writer-directors behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on on-set craft, physical gags and vivid settings. That blend delivers 2026 a lively combination of brand comfort and discovery, which is why the genre exports well.

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

Paramount fires first with two front-of-slate moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the lead, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character study. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach conveys a classic-referencing bent without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Plan for a rollout rooted in classic imagery, character previews, and a trailer cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will feature. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever shapes trend lines that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, sorrow-tinged, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man sets up an digital partner that grows into a lethal partner. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to renew viral uncanny stunts and bite-size content that mixes attachment and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title reveal to become an earned moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. The filmmaker’s films are positioned as signature events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second wave of trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date allows Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has consistently shown that a visceral, in-camera leaning approach can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror shock that spotlights worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio launches two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, maintaining a consistent supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is describing as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both core fans and curious audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build promo materials around setting detail, and monster design, elements that can amplify deluxe auditorium demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

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 builds on Eggers’ run of period horror defined by minute detail and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is glowing.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Platform tactics for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s horror titles transition to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a ladder that enhances both initial urgency and subscription bumps in the after-window. Prime Video pairs catalogue additions with international acquisitions and limited runs in theaters when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in catalog discovery, using prominent placements, spooky hubs, and staff picks to stretch the tail on overall cume. Netflix stays nimble about in-house releases and festival acquisitions, slotting horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around go-lives with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a staged of precision theatrical plays and prompt platform moves that translates talk to trials. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a situational basis. The platform has signaled readiness to secure select projects with prestige directors or star packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for sustained usage when the genre conversation peaks.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is steadily assembling a 2026 arc with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a theatrical rollout for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the September weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then using the December frame to scale. That positioning has helped for arthouse horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception prompts. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using limited runs to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Series vs standalone

By skew, the 2026 slate favors the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate marquee value. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The pragmatic answer is to market each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is underscoring core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a French-flavored turn from a rising filmmaker. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a survival-thriller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the packaging is recognizable enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Comparable trends from recent years make sense of the model. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not obstruct a day-and-date experiment from succeeding when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror outperformed in premium formats. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they reorient and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters shot in tandem, gives leeway to marketing to tie installments through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets alive without long breaks.

How the films are being made

The creative meetings behind the upcoming entries indicate a continued bias toward tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores texture and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the bleakest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead press and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for red-band excess, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 promises a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature and environment design, which work nicely for convention floor stunts and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel essential. Look for trailers that accent precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that sing on PLF.

Calendar cadence

January is stacked. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is thick, but the menu of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sustains.

February through May build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 lands February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves red-band intensity. The counterprogramming navigate here logic is sensible. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

August into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a transitional slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film locks October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that center concept over reveals.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker-driven prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and card redemption.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s virtual companion unfolds into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

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

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss scramble to survive on a far-flung island as the control balance turns and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

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 modern reconception that returns the monster to dread, based on Cronin’s practical craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting premise that routes the horror through a preteen’s wavering subjective view. Rating: rating pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A satire sequel that targets current genre trends and true-crime buzz. Rating: pending. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 flares, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a another family entangled with residual nightmares. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: TBD. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 time-true diction and ancient menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that slowed or shuffled in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical 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 debuts. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, metered scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, creating valuable space for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on 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 fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 value-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 unexpected 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. Anticipate a robust 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 buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and picture 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

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand power where it counts, fresh vision where it counts, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the gasps sell the seats.