Primordial Evil stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling horror thriller, debuting October 2025 across premium platforms

A frightening occult fear-driven tale from author / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an forgotten dread when newcomers become victims in a fiendish ritual. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango platform.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing tale of staying alive and mythic evil that will reconstruct fear-driven cinema this ghoul season. Brought to life by rising genre visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and tone-heavy thriller follows five unknowns who suddenly rise confined in a isolated shelter under the ominous command of Kyra, a female presence claimed by a prehistoric Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be shaken by a immersive display that harmonizes gut-punch terror with folklore, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a enduring fixture in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is inverted when the dark entities no longer manifest from a different plane, but rather within themselves. This suggests the shadowy facet of each of them. The result is a edge-of-seat inner struggle where the narrative becomes a intense contest between righteousness and malevolence.


In a bleak wild, five characters find themselves caught under the malicious influence and possession of a uncanny woman. As the companions becomes powerless to withstand her influence, abandoned and pursued by entities indescribable, they are forced to battle their inner demons while the final hour harrowingly pushes forward toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear builds and associations break, pressuring each participant to reconsider their true nature and the idea of volition itself. The cost intensify with every heartbeat, delivering a frightening tale that merges unearthly horror with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to explore core terror, an force beyond time, working through inner turmoil, and dealing with a darkness that forces self-examination when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra was about accessing something rooted in terror. She is clueless until the curse activates, and that flip is haunting because it is so visceral.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for public screening beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—ensuring watchers internationally can enjoy this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, available to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its first trailer, which has been viewed over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, giving access to the movie to a worldwide audience.


Do not miss this bone-rattling spiral into evil. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to dive into these terrifying truths about the soul.


For exclusive trailers, behind-the-scenes content, and press updates from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your socials and visit our spooky domain.





Horror’s tipping point: the year 2025 domestic schedule melds archetypal-possession themes, indie terrors, stacked beside series shake-ups

Beginning with grit-forward survival fare inspired by biblical myth through to returning series alongside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the most dimensioned combined with blueprinted year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is not just busy, it is strategic. major banners lay down anchors with known properties, simultaneously platform operators prime the fall with discovery plays together with archetypal fear. On another front, the art-house flank is drafting behind the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, though in this cycle, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are intentional, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

The top end is active. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 capitalizes.

Universal’s slate begins the calendar with an audacious swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a crisp modern milieu. Under director Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. landing in mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. From director Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer eases, the WB camp drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the entry offers emotional coda while tackling one of their notorious real cases. Although the framework is familiar, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is also positioned early in September, giving it breathing room before the October onslaught.

Arriving later is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson returns to the helm, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: throwback unease, trauma centered writing, and a cold supernatural calculus. The ante is higher this round, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, locking down the winter tail.

Platform Plays: Low budgets, big teeth

While the big screen favors titles you know, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

An especially bold streamer bet is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a two hander body horror spiral fronted by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it reads like an autumn stream lock.

Another headline entry is Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale led by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, 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. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No overweight mythology. No continuity burden. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The sequel reboot ecosystem reads stronger and more precise.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, fake blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

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.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror reemerges
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival Hype Equals Market 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
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

The Road Ahead: Autumn density and winter pivot

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals saturation. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. When the heavy hitters lean mythic, a last creature feature or exorcism can still fit.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The forthcoming 2026 Horror slate: continuations, fresh concepts, in tandem with A stacked Calendar Built For chills

Dek The incoming genre slate crowds up front with a January logjam, following that carries through summer corridors, and deep into the winter holidays, blending brand heft, novel approaches, and calculated release strategy. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing tight budgets, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that elevate horror entries into national conversation.

The genre’s posture for 2026

Horror filmmaking has shown itself to be the most reliable play in distribution calendars, a corner that can expand when it hits and still limit the drag when it falls short. After 2023 reminded decision-makers that lean-budget chillers can dominate the zeitgeist, the following year carried the beat with visionary-driven titles and under-the-radar smashes. The upswing translated to the 2025 frame, where revived properties and critical darlings underscored there is an opening for many shades, from continued chapters to director-led originals that travel well. The net effect for 2026 is a programming that presents tight coordination across the industry, with intentional bunching, a balance of established brands and untested plays, and a revived focus on exhibition windows that feed downstream value on premium on-demand and subscription services.

Executives say the genre now behaves like a swing piece on the release plan. Horror can premiere on numerous frames, generate a clear pitch for teasers and short-form placements, and lead with demo groups that lean in on Thursday nights and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the movie delivers. Exiting a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 cadence indicates comfort in that setup. The calendar rolls out with a weighty January block, then taps spring and early summer for alternate plays, while holding room for a autumn stretch that connects to Halloween and beyond. The map also underscores the greater integration of specialty distributors and digital platforms that can launch in limited release, create conversation, and widen at the strategic time.

A companion trend is legacy care across brand ecosystems and established properties. Big banners are not just pushing another return. They are moving to present lore continuity with a premium feel, whether that is a graphic identity that broadcasts a tonal shift or a cast configuration that reconnects a new entry to a original cycle. At the alongside this, the creative leads behind the eagerly awaited originals are championing practical craft, real effects and grounded locations. That interplay yields 2026 a healthy mix of home base and invention, which is how the genre sells abroad.

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

Paramount fires first with two high-profile pushes that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the spine, angling it as both a handoff and a heritage-centered character-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the artistic posture telegraphs a heritage-honoring bent without repeating the last two entries’ sisters thread. The studio is likely to mount a drive centered on franchise iconography, first images of characters, and a trailer cadence timed to late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also brings back 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 creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will play up. As a summer contrast play, this one will generate four-quadrant chatter through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick updates to whatever leads the conversation that spring.

Universal has three distinct entries. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is tight, somber, and premise-first: a grieving man sets up an algorithmic mate that unfolds into a perilous partner. The date lines it up at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to reprise strange in-person beats and bite-size content that mixes affection and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. 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 plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s work are treated as creative events, with a hinting teaser and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor creates space for Universal to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a flesh-and-blood, practical-effects forward execution can feel deluxe on a tight budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror shot that leans into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio rolls out two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, extending a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what Sony is describing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a vital part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both players and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign pieces around lore, and creature builds, elements that can accelerate PLF 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 characterized by obsessive craft and historical speech, this time engaging werewolf myth. The distributor has already set the date for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Digital strategies for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s releases flow to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a pacing that amplifies both initial urgency and platform bumps in the downstream. Prime Video blends licensed titles with cross-border buys and brief theater runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using seasonal hubs, seasonal hubs, and collection rows to extend momentum on lifetime take. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival buys, securing horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around releases with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a tiered of tailored theatrical exposure and prompt platform moves that monetizes buzz via trials. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a discrete basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to take on select projects with award winners or star packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for sustained usage when the genre conversation heats up.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 lane with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is tight: the same haunting, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has suggested a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an constructive signal for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the fall weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, curating the rollout through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then activating the holiday dates to go wider. That positioning has helped for director-led genre with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception warrants. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September my company or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using limited runs to prime evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Brands and originals

By number, 2026 leans toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage cultural cachet. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The preferred tactic is to position each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a French-flavored turn from a new voice. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be presented as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with signature mischievous dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the configuration is comforting enough to generate pre-sales and early previews.

Three-year comps illuminate the logic. In 2023, a cinema-first model that kept streaming intact did not block a simultaneous release test from paying off when the brand was sticky. In 2024, precision craft horror hit big in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revived cycle of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they change perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters produced back-to-back, lets marketing to bridge entries through character arcs and themes and to keep materials circulating without dead zones.

How the look and feel evolve

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate telegraph a continued turn toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that highlights tone and tension rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting efficient spending.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for textured sound and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in craft profiles and artisan spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has played for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta pivot that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature execution and sets, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel must-have. Look for trailers that accent fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid larger brand plays. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is serious, but the variety of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. Universal’s 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 sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is comic-leaning and wide, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes red-band intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can hit 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 cycled through premium screens.

Back half into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a early fall window that still feeds into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely amplified by a opaque tease strategy and limited pre-release reveals that put concept first.

Holiday prestige and specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor 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 resonates with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and holiday card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genome. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s synthetic partner unfolds into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy expands the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 prickly boss push to survive on Get More Info a desolate island as the power dynamic swivels and suspicion grows. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s practical craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting tale that channels the fear through a young child’s uncertain personal vantage. Rating: rating pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven haunted-house suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A spoof revival that needles contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: shoot planned for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 flares, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a young family snared by older hauntings. Rating: forthcoming. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward classic survival-horror tone over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: TBA. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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 antique diction and primal menace. Rating: not yet rated. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three pragmatic forces drive this lineup. First, production that slowed or recalendared in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, managed scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that become influencer fuel. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will coexist across five weekends, which helps each film cultivate buzz on its own. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

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

The breakout hunt continues in Q1, where value-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 shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, 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 pattern and spread. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, 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 build month to month, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing surface detail, soundscape, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Windows change. Ratings change. Casts shift. But the spine of 2026 horror is established. There is brand equity where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of scares. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.