Antediluvian Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding feature, rolling out Oct 2025 on leading streamers

An haunting paranormal shockfest from cinematographer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient force when guests become subjects in a dark ritual. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a gut-wrenching tale of endurance and prehistoric entity that will redefine the fear genre this autumn. Directed by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this psychological and atmospheric thriller follows five strangers who emerge caught in a far-off hideaway under the malignant manipulation of Kyra, a haunted figure overtaken by a prehistoric biblical force. Prepare to be absorbed by a motion picture event that intertwines instinctive fear with biblical origins, dropping on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a classic fixture in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that structure is flipped when the forces no longer descend outside their bodies, but rather internally. This mirrors the most terrifying facet of the victims. The result is a emotionally raw mental war where the narrative becomes a merciless face-off between heaven and hell.


In a unforgiving forest, five figures find themselves confined under the ghastly force and inhabitation of a haunted female presence. As the cast becomes defenseless to oppose her rule, severed and attacked by beings unfathomable, they are confronted to deal with their emotional phantoms while the hours relentlessly counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension rises and friendships dissolve, coercing each survivor to scrutinize their values and the foundation of personal agency itself. The intensity amplify with every heartbeat, delivering a terror ride that intertwines occult fear with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to evoke basic terror, an presence older than civilization itself, manifesting in inner turmoil, and highlighting a darkness that peels away humanity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra asked for exploring something rooted in terror. She is oblivious until the curse activates, and that change is emotionally raw because it is so private.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for on-demand beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering fans around the globe can witness this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its original clip, which has racked up over 100,000 views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, giving access to the movie to lovers of terror across nations.


Make sure to see this life-altering trip into the unknown. Stream *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to witness these haunting secrets about the psyche.


For exclusive trailers, set experiences, and insider scoops from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit our horror hub.





American horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule Mixes old-world possession, microbudget gut-punches, and IP aftershocks

Running from endurance-driven terror grounded in old testament echoes and extending to IP renewals plus pointed art-house angles, 2025 appears poised to be the most stratified along with tactically planned year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses plant stakes across the year by way of signature titles, while SVOD players saturate the fall with new voices together with mythic dread. On the independent axis, festival-forward creators is buoyed by the echoes of a banner 2024 fest year. As Halloween stays the prime week, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The fall stretch is the proving field, distinctly in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Prestige fear returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with a big gambit: a contemporary Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas alongside Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer wanes, Warner’s schedule unveils the final movement inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The new chapter enriches the lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Platform Plays: Small budgets, sharp fangs

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a two hander body horror spiral starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the work maps love envy and self hatred onto bodily unraveling. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is virtually assured for fall.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated canon. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

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

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

Long Running Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The opening film’s buzz and platform staying power help Universal go bigger.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, guided by Francis Lawrence, it operates as a bleak dystopian tale masked as survival horror, a walk off to death for kids. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Emerging Currents

Myth turns mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. 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
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. A film minus festival planning in 2025 risks getting lost.

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: Fall saturation and a winter joker

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 battle for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The upcoming Horror Year Ahead: returning titles, filmmaker-first projects, And A busy Calendar tailored for shocks

Dek: The brand-new terror year clusters in short order with a January cluster, subsequently flows through the mid-year, and far into the December corridor, fusing brand equity, original angles, and calculated calendar placement. Major distributors and platforms are doubling down on lean spends, exclusive theatrical windows first, and viral-minded pushes that position horror entries into broad-appeal conversations.

How the genre looks for 2026

This space has turned into the sturdy play in studio slates, a vertical that can break out when it resonates and still buffer the drawdown when it underperforms. After 2023 re-taught executives that lean-budget horror vehicles can shape cultural conversation, 2024 carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The momentum extended into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and awards-minded projects underscored there is demand for a spectrum, from franchise continuations to standalone ideas that play globally. The sum for the 2026 slate is a lineup that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with planned clusters, a balance of marquee IP and untested plays, and a renewed eye on release windows that power the aftermarket on premium video on demand and OTT platforms.

Marketers add the genre now acts as a plug-and-play option on the rollout map. The genre can arrive on many corridors, generate a tight logline for spots and shorts, and outstrip with patrons that show up on Thursday previews and keep coming through the subsequent weekend if the entry lands. Emerging from a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 layout underscores conviction in that approach. The calendar commences with a crowded January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while keeping space for a fall corridor that flows toward the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The calendar also shows the deeper integration of indie arms and subscription services that can launch in limited release, grow buzz, and grow at the proper time.

An added macro current is series management across connected story worlds and heritage properties. Studio teams are not just producing another follow-up. They are shaping as ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title treatment that indicates a tonal shift or a lead change that reconnects a next film to a heyday. At the very same time, the helmers behind the most buzzed-about originals are championing hands-on technique, practical gags and concrete locations. That blend yields 2026 a robust balance of recognition and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount establishes early momentum with two spotlight pushes that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the focus, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the creative stance indicates a heritage-honoring campaign without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive anchored in recognizable motifs, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will lean on. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will go after wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format allowing quick turns to whatever dominates the social talk that spring.

Universal has three specific bets. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, grief-rooted, and logline-clear: a grieving man purchases an machine companion that escalates into a fatal companion. The date slots it at the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to mirror odd public stunts and short-cut promos that hybridizes romance and terror.

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

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s work are branded as event films, with a mystery-first teaser and a later trailer push that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-October frame gives the studio room to lead 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, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a raw, physical-effects centered approach can feel high-value on a moderate cost. Look for a grime-caked summer horror shock that leans hard into international play, with More about the author Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio places two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, carrying a dependable supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is presenting as a fresh restart 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 clearer mandate to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build marketing units around universe detail, and practical creature work, elements that can amplify premium screens and fan events.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror shaped by historical precision and period language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The distributor has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is positive.

Digital platform strategies

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre slate window into copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a ordering that expands both FOMO and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video blends catalogue additions with global pickups and limited cinema engagements when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using featured rows, October hubs, and staff picks to prolong the run on the annual genre haul. Netflix retains agility about Netflix originals and festival pickups, locking in horror entries near launch and eventizing rollouts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a laddered of focused cinema runs and quick platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with accomplished filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for monthly activity when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 pipeline with two IP plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, reimagined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has suggested a theatrical rollout for the title, an good sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, escorting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday slot to widen. That positioning has proved effective for elevated genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using precision theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their community.

IP versus fresh ideas

By weight, 2026 is weighted toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to pitch each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a breakout filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Three-year comps illuminate the approach. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not foreclose a day-date try from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they rotate perspective and scale the storytelling. 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 double feature plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to interlace chapters through protagonists and motifs and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The director conversations behind the upcoming entries telegraph a continued bias toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that leans on mood and dread rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in trade spotlights and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood 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 goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta recalibration that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature design and production design, which match well with fan conventions and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel key. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

Month-by-month map

January is loaded. 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 big-brand pushes. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the range of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure allows a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Late winter and spring seed summer. Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls 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 comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

Shoulder season into fall leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited information drops that favor idea over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker prestige. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s essence. 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 intelligent companion unfolds into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: aura-driven 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 tough boss struggle to survive on a uninhabited island as the control balance reverses and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to menace, founded on Cronin’s physical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. 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 intimate haunting scenario that twists the unease of a child’s uncertain perceptions. Rating: TBA. Production: fully shot. Positioning: studio-grade and marquee-led supernatural 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 satirical comeback that needles modern genre fads and true-crime buzz. Rating: pending. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites surges, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a unlucky family snared by returning horrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for survivalist horror over action-heavy 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: unrevealed. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: to be announced. Production: moving forward. 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-specific language and elemental menace. Rating: TBD. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: high-craft holiday horror with awards-season tail.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that decelerated or re-slotted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more orderly 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 debuts. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest repeatable beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will line up across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, 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 dark-horse hunt 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 capitalize on 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience rhythm across the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers tempo and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, sound field, and cinematography 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is IP strength where it matters, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence 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 late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.