Antediluvian Dread surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, premiering October 2025 across global platforms

An chilling spectral terror film from cinematographer / auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primeval horror when foreigners become puppets in a cursed ceremony. Hitting screens this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, video-sharing site YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing saga of perseverance and ancient evil that will redefine horror this October. Guided by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and shadowy screenplay follows five lost souls who wake up imprisoned in a far-off wooden structure under the malevolent will of Kyra, a central character claimed by a ancient holy text monster. Be warned to be absorbed by a screen-based experience that merges gut-punch terror with spiritual backstory, coming on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a enduring tradition in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is radically shifted when the beings no longer originate outside the characters, but rather from their core. This depicts the most sinister version of each of them. The result is a emotionally raw mind game where the conflict becomes a ongoing struggle between righteousness and malevolence.


In a desolate wild, five young people find themselves contained under the ominous presence and inhabitation of a unknown woman. As the survivors becomes unable to withstand her control, isolated and tormented by powers unfathomable, they are cornered to reckon with their core terrors while the deathwatch harrowingly moves toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia escalates and friendships implode, coercing each individual to examine their existence and the principle of autonomy itself. The danger mount with every heartbeat, delivering a horror experience that harmonizes supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to channel deep fear, an presence beyond time, manipulating psychological breaks, and challenging a darkness that peels away humanity when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is in denial until the invasion happens, and that transformation is emotionally raw because it is so personal.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be accessible for viewing beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—making sure fans across the world can face this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, uploaded to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its intro video, which has received over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, taking the terror to viewers around the world.


Don’t miss this visceral path of possession. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to experience these fearful discoveries about the psyche.


For film updates, set experiences, and insider scoops from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across online outlets and visit our spooky domain.





U.S. horror’s inflection point: the 2025 season U.S. release slate fuses legend-infused possession, festival-born jolts, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Kicking off with grit-forward survival fare steeped in biblical myth through to legacy revivals alongside pointed art-house angles, 2025 stands to become the most complex combined with deliberate year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. the big studios set cornerstones with franchise anchors, as streamers saturate the fall with first-wave breakthroughs in concert with legend-coded dread. At the same time, the artisan tier is fueled by the tailwinds from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, distinctly in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are precise, so 2025 may be recorded as the genre’s most deliberate campaign.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The top end is active. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 doubles down.

Universal Pictures sets the tone with a big gambit: a reconceived Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, inside today’s landscape. Directed by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. set for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation turned minimalist horror show. Directed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

When summer tapers, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Even with a familiar chassis, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: retrograde shiver, trauma explicitly handled, plus otherworld rules that chill. The stakes escalate here, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The follow up digs further into canon, thickens the animatronic pantheon, speaking to teens and older millennials. It bows in December, securing the winter cap.

Streaming Firsts: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are trying sharper edges, and buzz accrues.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters 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 arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Next comes Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable 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. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession With Depth: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director 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 night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in 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 clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

The midnight bench, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, hums from execution, not mere titling. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Franchise Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

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. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots 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.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, steered by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror extends beyond terror, it frames evil as primordial.

Body horror swings back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

The Road Ahead: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

What matters is slate breadth meeting fractured audiences, not one crown jewel. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The next genre slate: continuations, filmmaker-first projects, and also A packed Calendar calibrated for shocks

Dek The incoming scare year builds right away with a January crush, before it extends through summer, and continuing into the December corridor, balancing IP strength, fresh ideas, and strategic counter-scheduling. Major distributors and platforms are embracing cost discipline, theater-first strategies, and buzz-forward plans that convert these releases into culture-wide discussion.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has grown into the sturdy move in release strategies, a vertical that can lift when it performs and still limit the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 signaled to leaders that mid-range genre plays can dominate cultural conversation, the following year kept energy high with auteur-driven buzzy films and sleeper breakouts. The trend fed into the 2025 frame, where legacy revivals and prestige plays highlighted there is demand for varied styles, from sequel tracks to one-and-done originals that perform internationally. The end result for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the market, with defined corridors, a combination of familiar brands and untested plays, and a revived stance on box-office windows that increase tail monetization on premium on-demand and platforms.

Distribution heads claim the space now slots in as a versatile piece on the programming map. Horror can open on nearly any frame, generate a quick sell for spots and shorts, and outstrip with ticket buyers that show up on advance nights and continue through the subsequent weekend if the picture satisfies. Post a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 plan underscores faith in that engine. The slate commences with a thick January band, then turns to spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a October build that stretches into All Hallows period and into November. The map also features the deeper integration of indie arms and streamers that can build gradually, grow buzz, and roll out at the inflection point.

An added macro current is series management across ongoing universes and classic IP. The studios are not just pushing another chapter. They are working to present continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a title design that indicates a new vibe or a casting move that reconnects a latest entry to a vintage era. At the same time, the visionaries behind the marquee originals are celebrating real-world builds, in-camera effects and location-forward worlds. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a strong blend of known notes and freshness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount establishes early momentum with two prominent bets that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward character-first story. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the authorial approach conveys a roots-evoking mode without recycling the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Look for a marketing run centered on classic imagery, character previews, and a promo sequence arriving in late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will stress. As a counterweight in summer, this one will generate mass reach through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format permitting quick updates to whatever drives trend lines that spring.

Universal has three specific strategies. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a tech-horror spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The logline is simple, grief-rooted, and easily pitched: a grieving man installs an intelligent companion that escalates into a fatal companion. The date nudges it to the front of a front-loaded month, with the Universal machine likely to bring back off-kilter promo beats and bite-size content that melds affection and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a official title to become an earned moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Finishing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film secures October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. The filmmaker’s films are presented as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor affords Universal to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček guides, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has demonstrated that a visceral, hands-on effects aesthetic can feel premium on a lean spend. Position this as a hard-R summer horror jolt that centers international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what the studio is billing as a reimagined 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 explicit mandate to serve both players and general audiences. The fall slot affords Sony time to build artifacts around environmental design, and creature builds, elements that can amplify PLF interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by careful craft and historical speech, this time focused on werewolf legend. Focus Features has already reserved the holiday for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play horror that can move wide if early reception is supportive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on known playbooks. Universal’s horror titles move to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a cadence that amplifies both opening-weekend urgency and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with global pickups and limited cinema engagements when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library pulls, using curated hubs, spooky hubs, and staff picks to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival grabs, locking in horror entries closer to drop and coalescing around go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of targeted theatrical exposure and quick platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a situational basis. The platform has signaled readiness to pick up select projects with accomplished filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a major factor for retention when the genre conversation ramps.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 slate with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The setup is tight: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, refined for modern mix and grade. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has announced a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, shepherding the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the holiday frame to move out. That positioning has delivered for auteur horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception supports. Be ready for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using mini theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By share, 2026 favors the IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all capitalize on household recognition. The caveat, as ever, is audience fatigue. The near-term solution is to sell each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is floating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-accented approach from a ascendant talent. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects deliver oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a survival-thriller premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is familiar enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

The last three-year set frame the method. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not obstruct a day-date move from hitting when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror hit big in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga made clear that global horror franchises can still feel new when they change perspective and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters shot in tandem, gives leeway to marketing to relate entries through character spine and themes and to sustain campaign assets without lulls.

Behind-the-camera trends

The creative meetings behind the upcoming entries point to a continued turn toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not repeat any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that foregrounds atmosphere and fear rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in trade spotlights and artisan spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has resonated for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for practical nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable jump-cut reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta-horror reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on creature craft and set design, which match well with convention floor stunts and curated leaks. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

January is full. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month concludes 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 tone spread ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure creates breathing room for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months stage summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 rolls out February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops 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 finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film grabs October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited asset reveals that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, measured platforming, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and card redemption.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production is underway. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s virtual companion escalates into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. Positioning: aura-driven adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her tough boss struggle to survive on a uninhabited island as the power dynamic tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: marquee survival piece from a master.

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 take that returns the monster to fear, anchored by Cronin’s physical craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting piece that pipes the unease through a youngster’s unsteady subjective lens. Rating: pending. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-backed and A-list fronted paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that teases of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fixations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: principal photography set for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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: TBA. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further extends again, with a new clan caught in long-buried horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A reboot designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: to be announced. Production: ongoing. 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 language and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBD. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that paused or reshuffled in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and condensed 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 releases. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, carefully timed scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, 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 efficient band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where cost-efficient 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 exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. 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 momentum and variety. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-hit supernatural combo for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, 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 conversation and attendance without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can earn PLF placement, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, sound, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is name recognition where it counts, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, lock the reveals, and let the shocks sell the seats.