Primordial Dread Stirs in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling feature, premiering Oct 2025 on top digital platforms

One spine-tingling unearthly nightmare movie from author / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an ancient terror when guests become tools in a dark trial. Going live October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a intense portrayal of survival and mythic evil that will revolutionize terror storytelling this autumn. Created by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and emotionally thick screenplay follows five characters who find themselves ensnared in a cut-off cottage under the hostile power of Kyra, a troubled woman haunted by a time-worn ancient fiend. Arm yourself to be ensnared by a theatrical ride that melds raw fear with ancestral stories, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a mainstay pillar in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is turned on its head when the entities no longer form from elsewhere, but rather from within. This mirrors the most terrifying layer of each of them. The result is a psychologically brutal mental war where the narrative becomes a unyielding face-off between purity and corruption.


In a abandoned outland, five teens find themselves imprisoned under the ominous rule and grasp of a uncanny apparition. As the group becomes paralyzed to fight her power, disconnected and tracked by presences inconceivable, they are obligated to reckon with their inner horrors while the seconds mercilessly counts down toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion mounts and friendships collapse, prompting each participant to examine their values and the structure of volition itself. The danger rise with every short lapse, delivering a fear-soaked story that fuses demonic fright with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my aim was to draw upon primitive panic, an curse born of forgotten ages, influencing inner turmoil, and challenging a will that redefines identity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra asked for exploring something unfamiliar to reason. She is uninformed until the entity awakens, and that turn is terrifying because it is so private.”

Release & Availability

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for home viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing users from coast to coast can witness this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its first trailer, which has received over a viral response.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has made public that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, giving access to the movie to horror fans worldwide.


Witness this soul-jarring spiral into evil. Watch *Young & Cursed* this launch day to uncover these chilling revelations about the soul.


For teasers, set experiences, and press updates straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACMovie across fan hubs and visit the movie’s homepage.





Horror’s major pivot: the 2025 season U.S. calendar melds old-world possession, indie terrors, and IP aftershocks

Ranging from last-stand terror suffused with legendary theology and extending to installment follow-ups plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 looks like horror’s most layered in tandem with tactically planned year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. studio powerhouses set cornerstones via recognizable brands, in tandem SVOD players stack the fall with first-wave breakthroughs and legend-coded dread. Across the art-house lane, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is surfing the carry from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The fall stretch is the proving field, but this year, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are surgical, which means 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: Premium genre swings back

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s distribution arm kicks off the frame with a risk-forward move: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, instead in a current-day frame. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. targeting mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Under Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Behind the greasepaint sits a critique of small town suspicion, generational fracture, and vigilante justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

By late summer, the WB camp unveils the final movement of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the chapter points to emotional capstone while addressing a headline case. While the template is known, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 slots behind. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Scott Derrickson again directs, and the memorable motifs return: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a title that can sell without classic marketing. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It opens in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Hitting theaters late summer with fall digital, it is expected to spark online debate and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian before it.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror duet starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story starring Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed operates as a rare duality, minimal in staging, maximal in myth. Written and helmed 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith does not answer ceremony, she climbs through trauma, hush, and human fracture. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as 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 overweight mythology. No canon weight. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, Aztec coded revenge folklore, may cap the fest blazing.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, and Tribeca’s genre set plays urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Long Running Lines: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, due in July, revives the ’90s horror franchise with a new lead and a throwback tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. If packaged well, it could track like The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Dials to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror returns
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Wreaths work as currency, buying release slots, placement, and press. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The coming 2026 terror release year: continuations, original films, alongside A packed Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek: The emerging terror cycle lines up at the outset with a January logjam, then carries through the warm months, and straight through the late-year period, braiding franchise firepower, untold stories, and shrewd counterprogramming. Studio marketers and platforms are prioritizing lean spends, cinema-first plans, and social-driven marketing that turn genre releases into broad-appeal conversations.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The genre has shown itself to be the dependable play in annual schedules, a pillar that can accelerate when it breaks through and still protect the downside when it does not. After the 2023 year re-taught buyers that low-to-mid budget horror vehicles can galvanize the zeitgeist, the following year continued the surge with signature-voice projects and under-the-radar smashes. The tailwind moved into the 2025 frame, where reboots and prestige plays signaled there is appetite for different modes, from franchise continuations to original one-offs that resonate abroad. The sum for the 2026 slate is a grid that is strikingly coherent across companies, with obvious clusters, a blend of known properties and novel angles, and a re-energized commitment on theatrical windows that increase tail monetization on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Distribution heads claim the space now works like a versatile piece on the calendar. Horror can launch on a wide range of weekends, yield a tight logline for marketing and social clips, and overperform with fans that appear on Thursday nights and maintain momentum through the sophomore frame if the feature delivers. After a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence telegraphs comfort in that model. The calendar begins with a heavy January band, then exploits spring through early summer for audience offsets, while leaving room for a September to October window that connects to late October and into the next week. The calendar also illustrates the deeper integration of specialized labels and OTT outlets that can platform a title, grow buzz, and scale up at the proper time.

A parallel macro theme is series management across interlocking continuities and legacy IP. Major shops are not just releasing another entry. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a must-see charge, whether that is a art treatment that signals a reframed mood or a casting pivot that connects a new installment to a foundational era. At the meanwhile, the helmers behind the eagerly awaited originals are favoring physical effects work, makeup and prosthetics and distinct locales. That mix produces the 2026 slate a lively combination of home base and newness, which is what works overseas.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount sets the tone early with two marquee projects that bookend the tonal range. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the lead, setting it up as both a baton pass and a back-to-basics character-focused installment. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the artistic posture conveys a legacy-leaning bent without replaying the last two entries’ family thread. Anticipate a campaign anchored in signature symbols, character spotlights, and a two-beat trailer plan targeting late fall. Distribution is theatrical through Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will foreground. As a summer contrast play, this one will chase four-quadrant chatter through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever rules genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three separate lanes. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is simple, somber, and high-concept: a grieving man brings home an machine companion that grows into a perilous partner. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with the studio’s marketing likely to echo uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that melds companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title drop to become an marketing beat closer to the first trailer. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. The filmmaker’s films are set up as marquee events, with a concept-forward tease and a second beat that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date creates space for Universal to dominate 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, makeup-driven treatment can feel prestige on a lean spend. Position this as a red-band summer horror shot that spotlights foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio places two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, holding a bankable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch evolves. The studio has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is describing as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both players and new audiences. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build materials around canon, and creature work, elements that can accelerate premium format interest and community activity.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in careful craft and language, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is glowing.

Platform lanes and windowing

Digital strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s genre entries flow to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a ordering that optimizes both launch urgency and sign-up spikes in the after-window. Prime Video stitches together catalogue additions with global originals and limited cinema engagements when the data points to it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in back-catalog play, using featured rows, seasonal hubs, and programmed rows to sustain interest on overall cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about originals and festival wins, securing horror entries tight to release and staging as events launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a one-two of precision releases and quick 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 pressing community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps selective horror on a discrete basis. The platform has demonstrated openness to board select projects with accomplished filmmakers or A-list packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for retention when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is clear: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, updated for modern audio and picture. 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 telegraphed a theatrical rollout for the title, an promising marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, shepherding the title through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then using the December frame to increase reach. That positioning has worked well for prestige horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception supports. Expect 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 in concert, using limited runs to seed evangelism that fuels their audience.

Balance of brands and originals

By tilt, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness cultural cachet. The challenge, as ever, is overexposure. The workable fix is to package each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is underscoring character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-flavored turn from a rising filmmaker. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Originals and auteur plays add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is assuring enough to drive advance ticketing and first-night audiences.

Past-three-year patterns outline the plan. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept clean windows did not stop a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror over-performed in premium screens. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they pivot perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends 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 filmed in sequence, enables marketing to cross-link entries through character and theme and to maintain a flow of assets without hiatuses.

Behind-the-camera trends

The shop talk behind the upcoming entries telegraph a continued emphasis on hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that leans on tone and tension rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a period English setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft coverage before rolling out a preview that elevates tone over story, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and generates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 sets up a meta inflection that centers an original star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature craft and set design, which play well in booth activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is loaded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month concludes 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 real, but the variety of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth persists.

Q1 into Q2 seed summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to 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 spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil lines up after September 18, a bridge slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited asset reveals that prioritize concept over plot.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and holiday gift-card burn.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A widowed man’s intelligent companion unfolds into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 confront a shimmering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her unyielding boss try to survive on a isolated island as the control balance tilts and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to dread, founded on Cronin’s physical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting narrative that pipes the unease through a minor’s uneven personal vantage. Rating: not yet rated. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-grade and star-fronted supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A spoof revival that pokes at current genre trends and true crime fascinations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a another family lashed to ancient dread. Rating: TBD. Production: slated for summer production leading to late-summer release. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an lean toward survival-driven horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: closely held. Rating: pending. Production: continuing. 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 period-precise speech and raw menace. Rating: TBD. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date variable, fall window probable.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three hands-on forces frame this lineup. First, production that eased or re-sequenced in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and accelerated schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently beaten straight-to-streaming drops. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work meme-ready beats from test screenings, managed scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

The slot calculus is real. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can control a weekend or play as the older-leaning alternative. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will trade weekends 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 check over here entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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

The stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where 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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

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

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, tight deployments, 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 detail, sonics, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is franchise muscle where it helps, fresh vision where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. 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, cut sharp trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.