Age-old Horror Emerges within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked supernatural thriller, rolling out October 2025 across major platforms

One hair-raising spiritual suspense film from narrative craftsman / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an prehistoric malevolence when newcomers become instruments in a hellish ceremony. Debuting on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube streaming, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango platform.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a gripping saga of continuance and primordial malevolence that will reconstruct horror this harvest season. Helmed by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and cinematic fearfest follows five young adults who awaken stranded in a hidden shack under the menacing influence of Kyra, a troubled woman consumed by a ancient holy text monster. Be warned to be shaken by a narrative outing that unites primitive horror with arcane tradition, hitting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demonic control has been a recurring tradition in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is challenged when the spirits no longer arise outside the characters, but rather from their psyche. This mirrors the deepest shade of the protagonists. The result is a edge-of-seat cognitive warzone where the drama becomes a relentless fight between purity and corruption.


In a wilderness-stricken woodland, five individuals find themselves trapped under the sinister sway and possession of a shadowy person. As the group becomes helpless to reject her influence, abandoned and pursued by spirits unnamable, they are cornered to stand before their inner demons while the final hour unforgivingly winds toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust swells and partnerships splinter, requiring each figure to doubt their self and the nature of liberty itself. The pressure amplify with every fleeting time, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that connects otherworldly panic with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to channel pure dread, an curse before modern man, filtering through our fears, and confronting a presence that redefines identity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was about accessing something more primal than sorrow. She is ignorant until the evil takes hold, and that pivot is eerie because it is so raw.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for digital release beginning from October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering fans from coast to coast can dive into this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its original promo, which has earned over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its US/Canada launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Join this cinematic journey into fear. Stream *Young & Cursed* this All Hallows’ kickoff to dive into these ghostly lessons about the mind.


For featurettes, filmmaker commentary, and promotions directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursed across Instagram and Twitter and visit youngandcursed.com.





American horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 domestic schedule Mixes old-world possession, independent shockers, plus series shake-ups

Moving from last-stand terror rooted in ancient scripture through to legacy revivals plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 appears poised to be the most complex combined with calculated campaign year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. top-tier distributors lock in tentpoles through proven series, simultaneously SVOD players prime the fall with discovery plays in concert with legend-coded dread. In the indie lane, the artisan tier is catching the afterglow from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, yet in 2025, slates are opening January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, and 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: High-craft horror returns

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner lights the fuse with a big gambit: a contemporary Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, instead in a current-day frame. Steered by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

In spring, Clown in a Cornfield lands, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Steered by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, the Warner lot launches the swan song of its steadiest horror franchise: 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. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson resumes command, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, with ghostly inner logic. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The next entry deepens the tale, grows the animatronic horror lineup, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Under Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

On the quieter side is Together, an intimate body horror unraveling starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn led by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all mine grief and vanishing and identity, running metaphor first.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed positions itself as a rare hybrid, intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Avoiding the usual exorcism path with Catholic ritual and Latin spell, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within 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 a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No canon weight. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

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

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. That one, an A24 backed satire on toxic fandom set during a horror convention lockdown, is poised for breakout status.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

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. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, guided by 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.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

What to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror surpasses shocks, it recalls evil’s antiquity.

Body horror returns
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival glow translates to leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

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

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The coming 2026 scare lineup: installments, fresh concepts, in tandem with A packed Calendar designed for jolts

Dek The new scare year crowds from the jump with a January cluster, then carries through the summer months, and deep into the year-end corridor, mixing IP strength, creative pitches, and strategic counterplay. The major players are committing to tight budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and social-driven marketing that pivot genre titles into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has grown into the surest release in release plans, a segment that can expand when it connects and still protect the drawdown when it fails to connect. After 2023 showed studio brass that mid-range pictures can galvanize audience talk, 2024 carried the beat with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The momentum pushed into the 2025 frame, where returns and awards-minded projects made clear there is capacity for varied styles, from continued chapters to standalone ideas that translate worldwide. The result for the 2026 slate is a run that shows rare alignment across the market, with strategic blocks, a combination of established brands and novel angles, and a sharpened strategy on cinema windows that drive downstream revenue on premium digital and SVOD.

Planners observe the space now acts as a schedule utility on the rollout map. The genre can kick off on most weekends, furnish a clear pitch for previews and short-form placements, and outperform with moviegoers that lean in on preview nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the movie satisfies. In the wake of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 rhythm reflects trust in that setup. The calendar begins with a stacked January window, then plants flags in spring and early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a autumn stretch that pushes into Halloween and past Halloween. The calendar also spotlights the increasing integration of specialized labels and streamers that can build gradually, fuel WOM, and broaden at the strategic time.

A companion trend is brand curation across shared universes and legacy IP. The players are not just releasing another return. They are shaping as lore continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a graphic identity that telegraphs a new tone or a casting move that ties a upcoming film to a early run. At the same time, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are embracing tactile craft, physical gags and concrete locations. That blend offers 2026 a confident blend of trust and newness, which is why the genre exports well.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount fires first with two high-profile titles that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the center, steering it as both a passing of the torch and a foundation-forward character-driven entry. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach announces a heritage-honoring campaign without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. The studio is likely to mount a drive fueled by classic imagery, initial cast looks, and a two-beat trailer plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reignites a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will foreground. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase broad awareness through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick turns to whatever drives the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three clear plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is crisp, tragic, and high-concept: a grieving man purchases an intelligent companion that unfolds into a fatal companion. The date slots it at the front of a stacked January, with the Universal machine likely to recreate uncanny-valley stunts and quick hits that hybridizes devotion and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets 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 public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a title drop to become an attention spike closer to the first trailer. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. Peele’s releases are framed as marquee events, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The spooky-season slot lets the studio to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has consistently shown that a raw, practical-first mix can feel premium on a lean spend. Position this as a splatter summer horror surge that embraces foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio deploys two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, keeping a steady supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where Insidious has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is billing as a clean-slate approach 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 mission to serve both diehards and novices. The fall slot affords Sony time to build campaign pieces around canon, and creature work, elements that can accelerate PLF interest and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions 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 linguistic texture, this time steeped in lycan lore. The imprint has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is robust.

Platform lanes and windowing

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s genre entries shift to copyright after a box-office phase then PVOD, a sequence that expands both launch urgency and platform bumps in the later window. Prime Video will mix library titles with world buys and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in back-catalog play, using seasonal hubs, fright rows, and featured rows to maximize the tail on aggregate take. Netflix stays nimble about Netflix originals and festival snaps, dating horror entries near launch and eventizing rollouts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a two-step of precision releases and accelerated platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will matter 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+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a per-project basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with prestige directors or marquee packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for retention when the genre conversation swells.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clear: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, modernized for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a standard theatrical run for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the autumn stretch.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then pressing the year-end corridor to open out. That positioning has paid off for elevated genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines regularly gel after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception prompts. Watch for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using targeted theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Balance of brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate tips toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to frame each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is underscoring character and heritage in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries add air. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the deal build is steady enough to accelerate early sales and preview-night crowds.

Recent-year comps illuminate the playbook. In 2023, a cinema-first model that kept streaming intact did not stop a day-date try from winning when the brand was compelling. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror rose in premium formats. In 2025, a resuscitation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters shot consecutively, enables marketing to relate entries through cast and motif and to leave creative active without lulls.

Technique and craft currents

The craft conversations behind the 2026 slate foreshadow a continued lean toward check my blog physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that spotlights grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and produces shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta refresh that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will fly or stall on monster realization and design, which are ideal for convention floor stunts and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel compelling. Look for trailers that elevate precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

How the year maps out

January is crowded. 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 foggy reset amid heavier IP. The month caps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is credible, but the range of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Post-January through spring build the summer base. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a slow-reveal plan and limited pre-release reveals that put concept first.

Year-end prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can open up in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Project-by-project snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting to be detailed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s algorithmic partner escalates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: silicon scare with soul.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 abrasive boss claw to survive on a isolated island as the power dynamic inverts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to horror, grounded in Cronin’s hands-on craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 home-set haunting story that filters its scares through a little one’s flickering subjective lens. Rating: pending. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed and name-above-title ghost thriller.

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 spoof revival that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime manias. Rating: pending. Production: shoot planned 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 spreads, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further reopens, with a fresh family bound to ancient dread. Rating: pending. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-first horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: TBD. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing. 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-specific language and elemental menace. Rating: pending. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: timing fluid, autumn anticipated.

Why 2026, why now

Three nuts-and-bolts forces drive this lineup. First, production that decelerated or reshuffled in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and leaner 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups check over here that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, making room 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 trade weekends across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can pounce on 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 budget under the $40–$50 million tier, 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 surprise-hit pursuit 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 press those advantages. 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 sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors welcome the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, smart allocations, 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 camera work 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.

A Promising 2026

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is set. There is brand equity where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite for scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the screams sell the seats.