Ancient Horror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, bowing Oct 2025 on major streaming services

This terrifying otherworldly fear-driven tale from scriptwriter / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, summoning an mythic evil when unfamiliar people become victims in a supernatural struggle. Premiering October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube streaming, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango streaming.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing portrayal of struggle and archaic horror that will redefine genre cinema this October. Produced by rising imaginative director Andrew Chiaramonte, this pressure-packed and gothic motion picture follows five unacquainted souls who snap to confined in a wooded cabin under the oppressive will of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a prehistoric scriptural evil. Be prepared to be captivated by a cinematic journey that weaves together bone-deep fear with legendary tales, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a iconic fixture in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is challenged when the presences no longer form from beyond, but rather from their core. This embodies the most hidden side of every character. The result is a bone-chilling mental war where the intensity becomes a relentless conflict between light and darkness.


In a forsaken landscape, five young people find themselves caught under the malevolent sway and domination of a uncanny woman. As the survivors becomes unresisting to break her power, detached and tracked by powers beyond reason, they are driven to acknowledge their raw vulnerabilities while the final hour without pity moves toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear amplifies and alliances disintegrate, pressuring each cast member to doubt their true nature and the principle of liberty itself. The risk amplify with every tick, delivering a horror experience that merges ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to dig into instinctual horror, an force rooted in antiquity, feeding on emotional fractures, and highlighting a evil that peels away humanity when choice is taken.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra involved tapping into something rooted in terror. She is clueless until the takeover begins, and that pivot is haunting because it is so emotional.”

Streaming Launch Details

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for viewing beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—ensuring watchers no matter where they are can face this haunted release.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its first preview, which has collected over notable views.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, spreading the horror to thrill-seekers globally.


Don’t miss this bone-rattling journey into fear. Confront *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to uncover these evil-rooted truths about inner darkness.


For exclusive trailers, director cuts, and news from the story's source, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit our film’s homepage.





Horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 season U.S. release slate Mixes old-world possession, underground frights, and returning-series thunder

Across last-stand terror suffused with primordial scripture and stretching into legacy revivals paired with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is shaping up as the most variegated as well as strategic year in recent memory.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. major banners set cornerstones with established lines, in parallel premium streamers front-load the fall with new voices paired with mythic dread. In parallel, indie storytellers is drafting behind the tailwinds of a peak 2024 circuit. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a headline swing: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. Guided by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this cut welds lycanthropy to home turmoil. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. arriving mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Directed by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer eases, the Warner Bros. banner drops the final chapter of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is guiding toward a solemn, meditative finish. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Planned for early summer, the October reposition reads assertive. Derrickson re engages, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, along with eerie supernatural rules. This time the stakes climb, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The return delves further into myth, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, courting teens and the thirty something base. It arrives in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streamer Exclusives: No Budget, No Problem

While theaters bet on familiarity, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the title blends fear with dramatic gravity. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a two hander body horror spiral featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is virtually assured for fall.

One more platform talker is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all lean on grief, loss, and identity, favoring allegory over fireworks.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Conceived and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this entry turns to something older, something darker. Lilith arrives not by rite, but through trauma, silence, and human fragility. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is an astute call. No bloated mythology. No series drag. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

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

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 tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, where Tribeca’s genre program draws 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.

Long Running Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

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, fake 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. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, led by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. Marketed correctly, it could be The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Trend Lines

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body horror reemerges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

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 approaching fear lineup: next chapters, Originals, alongside A packed Calendar optimized for shocks

Dek: The arriving scare calendar lines up up front with a January traffic jam, thereafter flows through summer, and far into the festive period, braiding marquee clout, creative pitches, and tactical calendar placement. Major distributors and platforms are committing to efficient budgets, exclusive theatrical windows first, and short-form initiatives that pivot these releases into broad-appeal conversations.

Horror’s status entering 2026

The field has emerged as the dependable lever in studio slates, a pillar that can lift when it catches and still hedge the downside when it fails to connect. After 2023 signaled to top brass that cost-conscious horror vehicles can galvanize audience talk, the following year carried the beat with festival-darling auteurs and quiet over-performers. The trend moved into the 2025 frame, where re-entries and prestige plays underscored there is a market for several lanes, from franchise continuations to original one-offs that scale internationally. The result for 2026 is a run that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with strategic blocks, a spread of marquee IP and original hooks, and a reinvigorated commitment on release windows that drive downstream revenue on paid VOD and platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can launch on nearly any frame, yield a sharp concept for marketing and shorts, and overperform with audiences that lean in on advance nights and keep coming through the subsequent weekend if the release fires. Post a work stoppage lag, the 2026 pattern indicates confidence in that engine. The slate begins with a busy January lineup, then taps spring and early summer for balance, while keeping space for a September to October window that flows toward Halloween and into early November. The gridline also spotlights the continuing integration of specialized labels and platforms that can launch in limited release, generate chatter, and expand at the right moment.

A parallel macro theme is IP stewardship across connected story worlds and legacy franchises. Studio teams are not just rolling another continuation. They are looking to package connection with a specialness, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a reframed mood or a ensemble decision that threads a new installment to a original cycle. At the same time, the filmmakers behind the top original plays are prioritizing hands-on technique, real effects and concrete locations. That fusion produces the 2026 slate a healthy mix of comfort and newness, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studio by studio strategy signals

Paramount leads early with two front-of-slate entries that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, positioning the film as both a cross-generational handoff and a heritage-centered character-first story. Production is active in Atlanta, and the narrative stance points to a nostalgia-forward strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Watch for a push built on signature symbols, early character teases, and a tiered teaser plan timed to late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also dusts off 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will foreground. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will drive large awareness through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format allowing quick updates to whatever defines the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three distinct entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, loss-driven, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an digital partner that turns into a fatal companion. The date positions it at the front of a packed window, with the Universal machine likely to renew creepy live activations and brief clips that fuses romance and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a final title to become an event moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Filling out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film lands October 23, 2026, a slot he has defined before. Peele’s releases are presented as must-see filmmaker statements, with a hinting teaser and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The Halloween runway gives the studio room to own 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gnarly, physical-effects centered method can feel big on a disciplined budget. Look for a red-band summer horror rush that spotlights worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio lines up two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, holding a consistent supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch progresses. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is calling a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both devotees and curious audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build artifacts around universe detail, and monster design, elements that can increase format premiums and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains Eggers’ run of period horror defined by textural authenticity and historical speech, this time exploring werewolf lore. The distributor has already locked the day for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform wide if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s horror titles move to copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a tiered path that maximizes both week-one demand and sub growth in the after-window. Prime Video blends third-party pickups with worldwide entries and short theatrical plays when the data supports it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in library engagement, using curated hubs, holiday hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix keeps options open about in-house releases and festival snaps, scheduling horror entries tight to release and positioning as event drops arrivals with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a dual-phase of precision theatrical plays and swift platform pivots that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a curated basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with accomplished filmmakers or celebrity-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to gather buzz before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation intensifies.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The promise is tight: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, refined for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an promising marker for fans of the brutal series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the September weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through a fall festival swing if the cut is ready, then turning to the Christmas window to widen. That positioning has helped for arthouse horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception supports. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using mini theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By tilt, 2026 leans toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit marquee value. The concern, as ever, is overexposure. The standing approach is to position each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a emerging director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and talent-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, puts Rachel McAdams into a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the cast-creatives package is known enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and early previews.

Three-year comps clarify the playbook. In 2023, a exclusive window model that honored streaming windows did not block a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was compelling. In 2024, precision craft horror exceeded expectations in premium large format. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel alive when they reframe POV and expand the canvas. 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 twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, builds a path for marketing to tie installments through character spine and themes and to keep materials circulating without doldrums.

Craft and creative trends

The director conversations behind these films telegraph a continued emphasis on hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the practical-first approach he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that underscores creep and texture rather than thrill-ride spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely warm the market to this aesthetic in craft journalism and technical spotlights before rolling out a preview 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 hints at a meta-horror reset that re-anchors on the original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature and environment design, which lend themselves to fan-con activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel essential. Look for trailers that center fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar cadence

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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month concludes 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 credible, but the tonal variety lets each find a lane, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late winter and spring load in summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest satisfies older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August and September into October leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a minimalist tease strategy and limited disclosures that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift card usage.

Title snapshots

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s AI companion escalates into something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

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

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 battle to survive on a isolated island as the power balance of power upends and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 in the vault in official materials. Logline: A renewed vision that returns the monster to horror, driven by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. 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 home-set haunting setup that frames the panic through a youngster’s unreliable point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A spoof revival that needles present-day genre chatter and true-crime manias. Rating: pending. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 erupts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan lashed to returning horrors. Rating: forthcoming. 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 restart designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an emphasis on survival-first horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: click to read more to be announced. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 elemental fear. Rating: undetermined. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 and why now

Three execution-level forces define this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or reshuffled in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. 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 launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips aligned to Thursday preview shows, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, clearing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will stack across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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. Plan on a solid PVOD window generally, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience journey through the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play 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 wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to set up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors value the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, optimized footprints, 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 tactility, aural design, and cinematography 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is franchise muscle where it helps, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.