Ancient Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising feature, bowing October 2025 on top streamers

A haunting supernatural fright fest from literary architect / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an archaic malevolence when drifters become tokens in a supernatural game. Premiering this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving story of continuance and timeless dread that will resculpt the fear genre this season. Crafted by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and atmospheric feature follows five unacquainted souls who emerge confined in a isolated shelter under the dark grip of Kyra, a tormented girl possessed by a 2,000-year-old ancient fiend. Brace yourself to be ensnared by a immersive event that integrates intense horror with mythic lore, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a time-honored fixture in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is subverted when the dark entities no longer form from a different plane, but rather from within. This echoes the most primal part of all involved. The result is a enthralling identity crisis where the plotline becomes a ongoing fight between innocence and sin.


In a desolate wilderness, five friends find themselves sealed under the unholy aura and haunting of a enigmatic spirit. As the victims becomes unable to withstand her command, exiled and stalked by beings inconceivable, they are pushed to acknowledge their soulful dreads while the deathwatch without pity draws closer toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion amplifies and ties implode, requiring each cast member to examine their values and the foundation of free will itself. The tension rise with every beat, delivering a chilling narrative that merges occult fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to tap into core terror, an threat rooted in antiquity, manifesting in mental cracks, and wrestling with a being that threatens selfhood when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra was about accessing something beyond human emotion. She is oblivious until the invasion happens, and that shift is bone-chilling because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing horror lovers from coast to coast can watch this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first trailer, which has received over 100K plays.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, making the film to international horror buffs.


Do not miss this bone-rattling path of possession. Enter *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these haunting secrets about mankind.


For director insights, making-of footage, and updates from those who lived it, follow @YACFilm across online outlets and visit our horror hub.





Today’s horror Turning Point: 2025 in focus U.S. calendar integrates archetypal-possession themes, signature indie scares, set against brand-name tremors

Kicking off with last-stand terror suffused with mythic scripture as well as series comebacks plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the genre’s most multifaceted and precision-timed year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. Top studios are anchoring the year with established lines, simultaneously OTT services saturate the fall with first-wave breakthroughs and legend-coded dread. On another front, the artisan tier is fueled by the backdraft of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, notably this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are precise, thus 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: Premium genre swings back

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, in a modern-day environment. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. dated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Under Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer eases, the WB camp releases the last chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. 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. Derrickson re teams, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The new chapter enriches the lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, bridging teens and legacy players. It arrives in December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror chamber piece pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend toplined by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The work dissects American religious trauma using supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. 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.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No swollen lore. No IP hangover. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate kicks off with tropical body horror and gets Cronenberg Herzog cross talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Franchise Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, from Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Signals and Trends

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror retakes ground
With Together, Weapons, and Keeper, the genre goes back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Badges become bargaining chips
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Fall saturation and a winter joker

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

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 coming 2026 scare calendar year ahead: continuations, Originals, as well as A busy Calendar Built For chills

Dek The upcoming scare slate crams in short order with a January glut, after that stretches through peak season, and far into the holiday stretch, mixing brand heft, new concepts, and well-timed alternatives. Studios and streamers are betting on efficient budgets, theatrical-first rollouts, and social-fueled campaigns that frame these pictures into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

Horror filmmaking has proven to be the bankable play in distribution calendars, a lane that can accelerate when it lands and still buffer the floor when it falls short. After 2023 signaled to top brass that disciplined-budget entries can drive audience talk, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with auteur-driven buzzy films and slow-burn breakouts. The trend flowed into the 2025 frame, where returns and elevated films highlighted there is demand for a variety of tones, from returning installments to standalone ideas that carry overseas. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a calendar that presents tight coordination across studios, with planned clusters, a blend of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a recommitted priority on box-office windows that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and streaming.

Executives say the genre now functions as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can roll out on numerous frames, provide a clean hook for ad units and UGC-friendly snippets, and lead with fans that line up on early shows and hold through the sophomore frame if the release lands. Post a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 configuration shows trust in that dynamic. The calendar launches with a heavy January schedule, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while making space for a autumn push that stretches into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The schedule also highlights the greater integration of specialized imprints and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, stoke social talk, and expand at the proper time.

A second macro trend is franchise tending across shared IP webs and heritage properties. The companies are not just making another continuation. They are setting up threaded continuity with a must-see charge, whether that is a title treatment that conveys a recalibrated tone or a cast configuration that bridges a latest entry to a first wave. At the very same time, the filmmakers behind the most buzzed-about originals are returning to physical effects work, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That alloy gives the 2026 slate a robust balance of recognition and unexpected turns, which is how the films export.

What the big players are lining up

Paramount fires first with two prominent plays that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the focus, steering it as both a passing of the torch and a rootsy character piece. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the story approach announces a memory-charged treatment without repeating the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Watch for a push leaning on heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also dusts off a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will spotlight. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever shapes horror talk that spring.

Universal has three separate bets. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is simple, soulful, and premise-first: a grieving man onboards an digital partner that evolves into a perilous partner. The date slots it at the front of a thick month, with marketing at Universal likely to renew off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that threads devotion and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a branding reveal to become an marketing beat closer to the initial promo. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as marquee events, with a hinting teaser and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has established that a in-your-face, practical-first treatment can feel cinematic on a middle budget. Position this as a blood-and-grime summer horror hit that pushes overseas performance, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio sets two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a dependable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan anchors it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is calling a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign pieces around environmental design, and monster design, elements that can increase premium format interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in rigorous craft and language, this time focused on werewolf legend. The distributor has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is glowing.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s genre slate head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that enhances both premiere heat and subscription bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video balances library titles with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using editorial spots, holiday hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix keeps optionality about first-party entries and festival grabs, confirming horror entries near their drops and coalescing around go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a tiered of selective theatrical runs and short jumps to platform that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be meaningful 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+ assesses case by case horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to board select projects with established auteurs or star-driven packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for platform stickiness when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 runway with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, refined for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a standard theatrical run for the title, an constructive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the back half.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, escorting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to widen. That positioning has been successful for director-led genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception warrants. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using boutique theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By share, the 2026 slate leans in favor of the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate brand equity. The concern, as ever, is overexposure. The workable fix is to market each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is spotlighting character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is teasing a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects keep oxygen in the system. 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the cast-creatives package is comforting enough to convert curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that honored streaming windows did not block a same-day experiment from succeeding when the brand was potent. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror exceeded expectations in PLF. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they pivot perspective and expand the canvas. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The linked-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, enables marketing to interlace chapters through character spine and themes and to continue assets in field without lulls.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The shop talk behind the 2026 slate point to a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not imitate any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that underscores texture and dread rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in long-lead press and artisan spotlights before rolling out a teaser that keeps plot minimal, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will live or die on creature execution and sets, which match well with fan conventions and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel key. Look for trailers that elevate hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that land in big rooms.

The schedule at a glance

January is full. Universal’s 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 bigger brand plays. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the mix of tones lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth spreads.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 serves ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is strong. The spoof can connect 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 shuffled through big rooms.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a peekaboo tease plan and limited information drops that lean on concept not plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s synthetic partner unfolds into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

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 confront a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss claw to survive on a uninhabited island as the chain of command swivels and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to terror, based on Cronin’s practical effects and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob get redirected here Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting chiller that frames the panic through a youth’s uncertain subjective lens. Rating: forthcoming. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-grade and star-led occult chiller.

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 genre lampoon that skewers present-day genre chatter and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. 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 bursts, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: lensing in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a fresh family snared by residual nightmares. Rating: TBD. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A restart designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBD. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: forthcoming. Production: proceeding. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 era-accurate language and elemental dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces shape this lineup. First, production that downshifted or reshuffled in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine social-ready stingers from test screenings, controlled scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can command a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will compete across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can capitalize on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the Goldilocks zone. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where lower and mid-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 work those windows. 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 journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers frequent Thursday-night spikes, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, acoustics, and visual design that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand equity where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.