Age-old Evil rises: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling horror thriller, bowing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This bone-chilling supernatural fright fest from cinematographer / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an timeless entity when drifters become conduits in a dark ceremony. Airings begin October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping episode of struggle and timeless dread that will revamp horror this fall. Directed by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and eerie thriller follows five unacquainted souls who are stirred locked in a secluded hideaway under the malignant will of Kyra, a mysterious girl possessed by a legendary sacred-era entity. Brace yourself to be captivated by a narrative experience that melds bone-deep fear with mythic lore, landing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a recurring concept in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is flipped when the monsters no longer form outside their bodies, but rather inside them. This represents the grimmest side of these individuals. The result is a bone-chilling internal warfare where the events becomes a perpetual struggle between heaven and hell.


In a wilderness-stricken wild, five characters find themselves stuck under the sinister grip and curse of a enigmatic person. As the companions becomes incapable to escape her will, abandoned and tormented by terrors beyond comprehension, they are pushed to reckon with their emotional phantoms while the deathwatch mercilessly winds toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion builds and connections break, driving each figure to examine their being and the idea of personal agency itself. The cost rise with every short lapse, delivering a cinematic nightmare that merges ghostly evil with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to evoke pure dread, an curse before modern man, emerging via mental cracks, and testing a curse that strips down our being when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra called for internalizing something far beyond human desperation. She is ignorant until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is soul-crushing because it is so internal.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering audiences internationally can get immersed in this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its original promo, which has seen over 100,000 views.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, bringing the film to thrill-seekers globally.


Be sure to catch this visceral fall into madness. Confront *Young & Cursed* this launch day to survive these chilling revelations about the human condition.


For behind-the-scenes access, set experiences, and promotions from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across fan hubs and visit youngandcursed.com.





Modern horror’s tipping point: the 2025 cycle U.S. calendar braids together primeval-possession lore, microbudget gut-punches, in parallel with brand-name tremors

Ranging from survival horror drawn from primordial scripture through to franchise returns as well as pointed art-house angles, 2025 is tracking to be the genre’s most multifaceted together with precision-timed year of the last decade.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. leading studios hold down the year by way of signature titles, simultaneously digital services front-load the fall with first-wave breakthroughs set against archetypal fear. In parallel, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is fueled by the afterglow of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the rest of the calendar is filling out with surgical precision. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, however this time, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, accordingly 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

The majors are assertive. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s distribution arm sets the tone with a bold swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, but a crisp modern milieu. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. timed for mid January, it is part of the new strategy to own the box office’s winter dead zone with prestige horror instead of dumping ground thrillers.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial heat flags it as potent.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. Pictures releases the last chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. While the template is known, Chaves reportedly keys a sorrowing, contemplative note in the capstone. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Next is The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Scott Derrickson returns, and those signature textures resurface: vintage toned fear, trauma centered writing, with spooky supernatural reasoning. The stakes escalate here, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Platform Plays: Tight funds, wide impact

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One standout ambitious title is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

In the micro chamber lane is Together, a body horror duet featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable starring Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Dry runs call it a headline grabbing streamer.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Hitting October 2 on the platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled 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 menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

On Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film acts as a Halloween counterpoint to sequel pipelines and creature comebacks. It is an astute call. No overinflated mythology. No series drag. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

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

Heritage Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

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

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Cue tiaras, phony blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, guided by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed plus Aztec curses in Whistle highlight ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror retakes ground
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Drops such as Weapons and Sinners arrive as events, not as catalog.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Big screen is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Season Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper must claw for air. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The next fright Year Ahead: returning titles, standalone ideas, as well as A packed Calendar calibrated for shocks

Dek: The fresh scare slate builds up front with a January logjam, thereafter rolls through the warm months, and well into the holiday stretch, fusing legacy muscle, creative pitches, and strategic counterprogramming. Studio marketers and platforms are focusing on lean spends, box-office-first windows, and viral-minded pushes that position the slate’s entries into broad-appeal conversations.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This category has become the bankable release in release plans, a corner that can surge when it connects and still safeguard the risk when it fails to connect. After the 2023 year re-taught executives that cost-conscious scare machines can command mainstream conversation, 2024 continued the surge with auteur-driven buzzy films and word-of-mouth wins. The trend rolled into 2025, where returns and premium-leaning entries signaled there is a market for a variety of tones, from ongoing IP entries to original features that translate worldwide. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a schedule that is strikingly coherent across the major shops, with strategic blocks, a combination of recognizable IP and new pitches, and a sharpened focus on exclusive windows that feed downstream value on premium digital rental and subscription services.

Schedulers say the horror lane now performs as a swing piece on the calendar. The genre can open on open real estate, furnish a simple premise for marketing and UGC-friendly snippets, and outstrip with crowds that appear on early shows and keep coming through the second frame if the offering works. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 configuration exhibits belief in that approach. The calendar launches with a loaded January run, then taps spring and early summer for counterweight, while carving room for a fall cadence that flows toward the fright window and past Halloween. The program also shows the continuing integration of specialized imprints and home platforms that can build gradually, generate chatter, and broaden at the optimal moment.

A second macro trend is legacy care across interlocking continuities and classic IP. Studios are not just rolling another follow-up. They are setting up brand continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that telegraphs a reframed mood or a casting move that anchors a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the same time, the creative teams behind the marquee originals are doubling down on material texture, real effects and distinct locales. That pairing delivers 2026 a lively combination of recognition and shock, which is why the genre exports well.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount fires first with two marquee releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the spine, signaling it as both a cross-generational handoff and a heritage-centered character study. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the authorial approach conveys a legacy-leaning approach without going over the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push leaning on heritage visuals, first-look character reveals, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is cinema-first via Paramount.

Paramount also reawakens a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved 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 pursue wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format inviting quick shifts to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three unique strategies. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tidy, soulful, and high-concept: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that becomes a fatal companion. The date locates it at the front of a front-loaded month, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit uncanny live moments and short reels that melds devotion and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be 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 branding reveal to become an attention spike closer to the first trailer. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele’s releases are positioned as event films, with a teaser that reveals little and a second beat that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The late-month date affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub leading. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, in-camera leaning strategy can feel top-tier on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a viscera-heavy summer horror shot that leans hard into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio deploys two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, maintaining a evergreen supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch gestates. The studio has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is marketing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can increase premium booking interest and convention buzz.

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 sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and dialect, this time focused on werewolf legend. The label has already announced the holiday for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

Digital platform strategies

Windowing plans in 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a ladder that boosts both week-one demand and sign-up momentum in the later window. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with cross-border buys and small theatrical windows when the data encourages it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in archive usage, using curated hubs, October hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like rollouts with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and swift platform pivots that turns chatter to conversion. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on genre pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown a willingness to secure select projects with recognized filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet guild rules or to create word of mouth before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for sustained usage when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is no-nonsense: the same atmospheric, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, retooled for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then pressing the Christmas corridor to increase reach. That positioning has shown results for arthouse horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception merits. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that runs at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using small theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their subs.

Legacy titles versus originals

By skew, 2026 skews toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The workable fix is to package each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is spotlighting relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto horror itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf emphasizes period craft and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is familiar enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent comps announce the strategy. In 2023, a theatrical-first model that kept clean windows did not obstruct a parallel release from paying off when the brand was big. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror rose in premium screens. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and stretch the story. 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 paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, permits marketing to cross-link entries through character web and themes and to leave creative active without dead zones.

Behind-the-camera trends

The filmmaking conversations behind this year’s genre foreshadow a continued move toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that centers texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead press and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for red-band excess, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and gathers shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will win or lose on creature work and production design, which work nicely for con floor moments and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema value feel compelling. Look for trailers that emphasize pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and sudden silences that sing on PLF.

How the year maps out

January is full. 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 gloomy counterbalance amid big-brand pushes. The month wraps 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 thick, but the tonal variety gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth sticks.

Post-January through spring seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with brand energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds 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 drops brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will seize cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can play the holidays when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card use.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative relinks to the original film’s DNA. 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 virtual companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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 scales the story beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: atmospheric game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her difficult boss try to survive on a desolate island as the control dynamic turns and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to terror, founded on Cronin’s in-camera craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A household haunting piece that mediates the fear via a child’s shifting perspective. Rating: TBD. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A parody reboot that skewers hot-button genre motifs and true-crime crazes. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: production booked 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 breaks out, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: uncompromising R installment meant for big rooms.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a another family linked to long-buried horrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: trusted supernatural label in a supportive window.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A fresh restart designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survivalist horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in progress. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on historical diction and ancient menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: in preparation with Christmas frame locked. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three execution-level forces structure this lineup. First, production that eased or reshuffled in 2024 required schedule breathing room. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects set pieces, and tighter schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, social conversation converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on turnkey scare beats from test screenings, curated scare clips paired with Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can capture a weekend or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will compete 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 leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will land under the $40–$50 million mark, with many far below. That allows for robust premium-format allocation 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 disciplined-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 harvest those lanes. 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers beat and breadth. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

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

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts shuffle. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is IP strength where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, 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 late-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.