Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed awakens primeval malevolence, a bone chilling horror feature, bowing October 2025 on global platforms

An spine-tingling metaphysical nightmare movie from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient malevolence when passersby become victims in a supernatural contest. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving portrayal of resilience and ancient evil that will alter genre cinema this autumn. Helmed by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and shadowy fearfest follows five unacquainted souls who are stirred stranded in a secluded lodge under the dark influence of Kyra, a female lead possessed by a antiquated ancient fiend. Be prepared to be gripped by a narrative spectacle that merges soul-chilling terror with ancestral stories, arriving on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a recurring pillar in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is redefined when the forces no longer appear from an outside force, but rather from their core. This mirrors the shadowy layer of the group. The result is a intense spiritual tug-of-war where the intensity becomes a relentless clash between moral forces.


In a bleak outland, five friends find themselves marooned under the unholy grip and overtake of a uncanny person. As the ensemble becomes incapacitated to break her will, disconnected and pursued by terrors beyond reason, they are pushed to deal with their core terrors while the clock coldly ticks onward toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust amplifies and associations fracture, driving each character to question their character and the idea of freedom of choice itself. The consequences rise with every passing moment, delivering a fear-soaked story that integrates unearthly horror with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to dig into pure dread, an spirit beyond recorded history, channeling itself through inner turmoil, and highlighting a power that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra asked for exploring something unfamiliar to reason. She is blind until the control shifts, and that change is haunting because it is so unshielded.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for audiences beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—providing users worldwide can be part of this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just dropped a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a additional glimpse to its original promo, which has seen over strong viewer count.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, bringing the film to a global viewership.


Make sure to see this haunted descent into darkness. Brace yourself for *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to survive these unholy truths about our species.


For sneak peeks, director cuts, and social posts from the story's source, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your favorite networks and visit the official website.





Current horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 cycle American release plan interlaces archetypal-possession themes, Indie Shockers, paired with series shake-ups

Running from fight-to-live nightmare stories inspired by legendary theology and stretching into installment follow-ups set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the most variegated plus calculated campaign year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios are anchoring the year with established lines, simultaneously subscription platforms crowd the fall with first-wave breakthroughs together with ancient terrors. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is catching the echoes from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. As Halloween stays the prime week, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, yet in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are calculated, and 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 capitalizes.

the Universal camp begins the calendar with an audacious swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, in a modern-day environment. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Helmed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson is back, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The stakes escalate here, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The follow up digs further into canon, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It books December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Platform Plays: No Budget, No Problem

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

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It feels intimate, ghastly, and profoundly uneasy, a three part fall into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend headlined 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 story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by 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 threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith ignores rite, she wells up from trauma, quietude, and human weakness. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 mythology. No brand fatigue. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Series Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The legacy lineup looks stronger and more deliberate than prior years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, set for July, reanimates the 90s series with a new lead and nostalgia tone. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. 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.

What to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror comes roaring back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival heat turns into leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theaters are a trust fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

The Road Ahead: 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, 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. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The next Horror cycle: follow-ups, universe starters, plus A jammed Calendar designed for chills

Dek The current horror cycle clusters in short order with a January cluster, subsequently flows through the summer months, and continuing into the late-year period, blending brand equity, original angles, and shrewd counterplay. Studios with streamers are focusing on right-sized spends, theatrical-first rollouts, and social-driven marketing that turn these releases into culture-wide discussion.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The horror sector has grown into the dependable tool in studio lineups, a vertical that can break out when it resonates and still buffer the downside when it underperforms. After the 2023 year proved to strategy teams that cost-conscious horror vehicles can shape cultural conversation, 2024 carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where revived properties and awards-minded projects demonstrated there is demand for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to standalone ideas that translate worldwide. The net effect for 2026 is a run that appears tightly organized across players, with defined corridors, a blend of familiar brands and original hooks, and a revived strategy on exhibition windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium on-demand and OTT platforms.

Schedulers say the horror lane now works like a flex slot on the slate. The genre can premiere on many corridors, supply a simple premise for trailers and UGC-friendly snippets, and over-index with patrons that turn out on advance nights and hold through the second frame if the picture delivers. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 configuration exhibits belief in that setup. The year kicks off with a crowded January run, then plants flags in spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a autumn push that runs into the Halloween corridor and past Halloween. The gridline also spotlights the deeper integration of specialty arms and subscription services that can build gradually, generate chatter, and expand at the timely point.

A reinforcing pattern is IP stewardship across unified worlds and heritage properties. Studios are not just mounting another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a new tone or a star attachment that ties a next entry to a vintage era. At the parallel to that, the auteurs behind the top original plays are returning to tactile craft, physical gags and vivid settings. That interplay gives the 2026 slate a healthy mix of familiarity and discovery, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount plants an early flag with two high-profile releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a baton pass and a origin-leaning character study. Production is active in Atlanta, and the authorial approach conveys a legacy-leaning framework without rehashing the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Count on a promo wave fueled by iconic art, character previews, and a tease cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites 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 in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will seek wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick redirects to whatever drives pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three discrete projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is simple, tragic, and premise-first: a grieving man implements an synthetic partner that evolves into a perilous partner. The date locates it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the studio’s marketing likely to mirror off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that melds attachment and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a branding reveal to become an event moment closer to the debut look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are branded as event films, with a opaque teaser and a later creative that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot affords Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, on-set effects led execution can feel elevated on a efficient spend. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio mounts two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, maintaining a proven supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is calling a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a directive to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around world-building, and monster design, elements that can drive PLF interest and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 grounded in rigorous craft and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is glowing.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. The studio’s horror films feed copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a sequence that elevates both launch urgency and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video balances licensed content with global pickups and limited cinema engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu work their edges in archive usage, using curated hubs, horror hubs, and handpicked rows to lengthen the tail on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about in-house releases and festival buys, timing horror entries near their drops and framing as events arrivals with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a tiered of focused cinema runs and quick platforming that monetizes buzz via 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 selective horror on a per-project basis. The platform has signaled readiness to secure select projects with established auteurs or marquee packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for subscriber stickiness when the genre conversation surges.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 runway with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is straightforward: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, refined for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday slot to move out. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-first horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception merits. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit franchise value. The question, as ever, is staleness. The operating solution is to frame each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is foregrounding core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is floating a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-inflected take from a fresh helmer. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and Check This Out an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the configuration is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps announce the model. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that kept streaming intact did not preclude a dual release from winning when the brand was powerful. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror popped in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot 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 back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, gives leeway to marketing to connect the chapters through character spine and themes and to maintain a flow of assets without dead zones.

Technique and craft currents

The creative meetings behind this slate foreshadow a continued tilt toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on mood and dread rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and era-correct language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely highlight this aesthetic in craft profiles and craft features before rolling out a atmospheric tease that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at gross-out texture, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable crowd-reaction snippets from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta reframe that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will live or die on monster work and world-building, which play well in convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel essential. Look for trailers that highlight pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that work in PLF.

How the year maps out

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid heavier IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a stranded thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the variety of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth persists.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Scream 7 hits February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was aligned with 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a bridge slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited plot reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as craft prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s artificial companion evolves into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 surges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-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 ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: 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 abrasive boss try to survive on a rugged island as the power balance tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles confidential in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to terror, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting piece that routes the horror through a minor’s volatile inner lens. Rating: pending. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that lampoons modern genre fads and true-crime obsessions. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: lensing scheduled 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 breaks out, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new clan tethered to residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A reboot designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward classic survival-horror tone over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: lore-true modernization with broad upside.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: undetermined. Production: underway. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 historical diction and ancient menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. 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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: slot unsettled, fall projected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or rearranged in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI runs, and accelerated 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 out-earned straight-to-streaming landings. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage bite-size scare clips from test screenings, precision scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can command a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will trade weekends across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The sleeper chase continues in Q1, where modest-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 shock over-performer 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, disciplined footprints, 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 dimensionality, soundcraft, 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 Is Well Positioned

Frames adjust. 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 grasp the timing of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the frights sell the seats.