Primordial Evil Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling feature, streaming October 2025 across top streamers

One frightening metaphysical shockfest from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an mythic malevolence when passersby become pawns in a satanic experiment. Streaming October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing depiction of survival and primeval wickedness that will reimagine the horror genre this fall. Helmed by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this nerve-racking and tone-heavy motion picture follows five teens who wake up stranded in a hidden hideaway under the dark will of Kyra, a troubled woman inhabited by a antiquated scriptural evil. Steel yourself to be shaken by a screen-based outing that blends deep-seated panic with mythic lore, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a classic tradition in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is radically shifted when the entities no longer arise from beyond, but rather from deep inside. This suggests the most sinister side of the players. The result is a riveting mental war where the events becomes a merciless face-off between right and wrong.


In a wilderness-stricken wild, five individuals find themselves caught under the ghastly grip and possession of a obscure character. As the companions becomes vulnerable to evade her control, exiled and stalked by evils unfathomable, they are obligated to acknowledge their raw vulnerabilities while the countdown unceasingly edges forward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust surges and friendships dissolve, compelling each figure to challenge their existence and the idea of personal agency itself. The cost mount with every fleeting time, delivering a paranormal ride that marries otherworldly suspense with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my focus was to evoke ancestral fear, an evil that existed before mankind, working through emotional fractures, and questioning a will that strips down our being when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is insensitive until the spirit seizes her, and that pivot is terrifying because it is so close.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing households anywhere can get immersed in this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original promo, which has racked up over notable views.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, offering the tale to a worldwide audience.


Be sure to catch this mind-warping spiral into evil. Explore *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these evil-rooted truths about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, extra content, and social posts directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursed across your favorite networks and visit the movie portal.





Current horror’s decisive shift: 2025 across markets stateside slate fuses primeval-possession lore, art-house nightmares, stacked beside legacy-brand quakes

Moving from survivor-centric dread steeped in old testament echoes and including franchise returns as well as cutting indie sensibilities, 2025 is emerging as the most variegated along with strategic year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. top-tier distributors hold down the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously streamers front-load the fall with emerging auteurs together with scriptural shivers. Across the art-house lane, horror’s indie wing is catching the backdraft of a peak 2024 circuit. Since Halloween is the prized date, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are methodical, which means 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp lights the fuse with a bold swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, in an immediate now. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Helmed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. Pictures delivers the closing chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Though the outline is tried, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and the tone that worked before is intact: nostalgic menace, trauma explicitly handled, plus otherworld rules that chill. The bar is raised this go, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Streaming Offerings: No Budget, No Problem

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a close quarters body horror study pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Taking place in an isolated rental as a retreat goes wrong, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn led by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

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

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is canny scheduling. No bloated mythology. No canon weight. Simply psychological fear, lean and taut, built for the binge then recover rhythm. In the noise, Young & Cursed could cut through by staying hushed, then erupting.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They are more runway than museum.

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 slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. 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: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

Key Trends

Old myth goes broad
Young & Cursed with Lilith and Whistle with Aztec curses both signal ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror ascends again
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode 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. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

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

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



The next fright slate: entries, universe starters, as well as A hectic Calendar Built For Scares

Dek The emerging horror calendar clusters from the jump with a January traffic jam, and then spreads through the summer months, and deep into the holiday stretch, braiding brand equity, new voices, and well-timed counter-scheduling. Studios and streamers are relying on lean spends, box-office-first windows, and shareable marketing that shape genre releases into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror has emerged as the bankable counterweight in studio slates, a segment that can accelerate when it lands and still buffer the losses when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for buyers that modestly budgeted horror vehicles can own the discourse, 2024 continued the surge with signature-voice projects and under-the-radar smashes. The upswing extended into 2025, where revivals and festival-grade titles signaled there is demand for several lanes, from sequel tracks to fresh IP that perform internationally. The upshot for the 2026 slate is a calendar that looks unusually coordinated across the major shops, with purposeful groupings, a spread of recognizable IP and fresh ideas, and a re-energized commitment on big-screen windows that power the aftermarket on paid VOD and OTT platforms.

Studio leaders note the horror lane now works like a schedule utility on the grid. Horror can debut on almost any weekend, supply a tight logline for marketing and social clips, and exceed norms with ticket buyers that show up on advance nights and maintain momentum through the second frame if the offering fires. Emerging from a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 plan demonstrates trust in that playbook. The slate gets underway with a busy January schedule, then taps spring and early summer for counterprogramming, while holding room for a fall run that pushes into Halloween and past the holiday. The calendar also includes the increasing integration of specialized labels and digital platforms that can nurture a platform play, build word of mouth, and expand at the timely point.

A companion trend is legacy care across brand ecosystems and long-running brands. The companies are not just rolling another sequel. They are working to present threaded continuity with a headline quality, whether that is a logo package that suggests a refreshed voice or a star attachment that binds a next film to a early run. At the in tandem, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are returning to real-world builds, real effects and vivid settings. That alloy yields the 2026 slate a robust balance of comfort and shock, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount opens strong with two prominent releases that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, marketing it as both a legacy handover and a rootsy relationship-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the tonal posture points to a fan-service aware angle without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push built on heritage visuals, intro reveals, and a tease cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

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 back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will emphasize. As a summer contrast play, this one will pursue wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format enabling quick updates to whatever drives the conversation that spring.

Universal has three unique plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a digital-age offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and commercial: a grieving man implements an artificial companion that escalates into a dangerous lover. The date lines it up at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to renew viral uncanny stunts and short reels that blurs longing and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a proper title to become an earned moment closer to the early tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele titles are positioned as marquee events, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that shape mood without giving away the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives the studio room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has proven that a tactile, prosthetic-heavy approach can feel deluxe on a controlled budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror shot that emphasizes global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio launches two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, continuing a evergreen supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch incubates. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is framing as a new take for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a focus to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot affords Sony time to build marketing units around environmental design, and creature effects, elements that can boost format premiums and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on textural authenticity and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus Features has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is strong.

How the platforms plan to play it

Digital strategies for 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s slate land on copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ordering that expands both FOMO and sign-up spikes in the late-window. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with cross-border buys and limited cinema engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library engagement, using editorial spots, spooky hubs, and programmed rows to stretch the tail on the horror cume. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival additions, timing horror entries near launch and positioning as event drops releases with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a laddered of tailored theatrical exposure and speedy platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a situational basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to board select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a prestige theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation swells.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 slate with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is tight: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, updated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the October weeks.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging 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 likely scenario is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Look for 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 parallel, using limited theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

IP versus fresh ideas

By number, 2026 tips toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on marquee value. The potential drawback, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is elevating character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving 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 auteur plays keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a focused, eerie tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the package is familiar enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and first-night audiences.

Recent comps contextualize the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept streaming intact did not block a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was sticky. In 2024, auteur craft horror punched above its weight in premium formats. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel new when they shift POV and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters shot consecutively, provides the means for marketing to bridge entries through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without long gaps.

Production craft signals

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries foreshadow a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that foregrounds grain and menace rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft profiles and artisan spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that puts the original star at center. Resident have a peek here Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which are ideal for convention floor stunts and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that underscore pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that shine in top rooms.

How the year maps out

January is busy. 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 moody palate cleanser amid heftier brand moves. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the mix of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth holds.

Q1 into Q2 prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now backs 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest caters to older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

End of summer through fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder season window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a peekaboo tease plan and limited pre-release reveals that trade in concept over detail.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can play the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift card usage.

Film-by-film briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around 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 grows into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography 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 expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 hard-edged boss struggle to survive on a cut-off island as the power balance of power tilts and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s physical craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting tale that routes the horror through a preteen’s uncertain point of view. Rating: pending. Production: picture-locked. 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 rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A send-up revival that riffs on contemporary horror memes and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBD. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further opens again, with a young family caught in long-buried horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: closely held. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: continuing. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

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 bone-deep menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026 lands now

Three hands-on forces drive this lineup. First, production that downshifted or migrated in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter 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 overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, managed scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Calendar math also matters. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will line up across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The lampoon benefits from family and action buoyancy, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Economics and ratings, plus sleeper strategy

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will budget under the this content $40–$50 million tier, 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-hit hunt continues in Q1, where lean-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first 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. 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions 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 like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, right-sized allotments, 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 visual texture, sonics, and image-making 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is recognizable IP where it plays, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the screams sell the seats.