Ancient Terror reawakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked chiller, launching October 2025 on major streaming services

One spine-tingling spectral shockfest from author / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an ancient fear when passersby become tokens in a malevolent game. Premiering October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing episode of resilience and ancient evil that will alter genre cinema this October. Realized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unsettling and emotionally thick screenplay follows five teens who come to locked in a far-off lodge under the menacing grip of Kyra, a young woman overtaken by a time-worn sacred-era entity. Be warned to be drawn in by a screen-based outing that fuses primitive horror with ancestral stories, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a time-honored foundation in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is radically shifted when the fiends no longer descend from an outside force, but rather from deep inside. This symbolizes the most terrifying part of the players. The result is a emotionally raw mind game where the narrative becomes a brutal confrontation between purity and corruption.


In a bleak outland, five friends find themselves isolated under the sinister control and grasp of a unidentified character. As the group becomes submissive to deny her power, abandoned and targeted by spirits unimaginable, they are cornered to wrestle with their inner demons while the doomsday meter relentlessly counts down toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, distrust amplifies and teams crack, prompting each person to contemplate their identity and the notion of decision-making itself. The risk climb with every second, delivering a fear-soaked story that weaves together ghostly evil with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to tap into basic terror, an spirit before modern man, manifesting in emotional vulnerability, and challenging a entity that strips down our being when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Stepping into Kyra meant evoking something unfamiliar to reason. She is blind until the control shifts, and that turn is shocking because it is so internal.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for home viewing beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—delivering watchers in all regions can watch this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new sneak peek #2 for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its intro video, which has collected over 100K plays.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has informed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shared across borders, extending the thrill to fans of fear everywhere.


Experience this gripping descent into darkness. Watch *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to dive into these chilling revelations about existence.


For film updates, on-set glimpses, and announcements from the creators, follow @YACMovie across Instagram and Twitter and visit the official website.





Modern horror’s major pivot: 2025 U.S. calendar braids together primeval-possession lore, Indie Shockers, plus franchise surges

Spanning fight-to-live nightmare stories infused with near-Eastern lore and including legacy revivals and focused festival visions, 2025 is lining up as the most stratified paired with tactically planned year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. the big studios lay down anchors via recognizable brands, in tandem platform operators stack the fall with new voices and scriptural shivers. In parallel, the artisan tier is surfing the momentum from a record 2024 festival run. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and in 2025, players are marking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are calculated, therefore 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Roadmap and Mini-Major Pulse: High-craft horror returns

The top end is active. If 2024 set the base, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner starts the year with a marquee bet: a refashioned Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a modern-day environment. With Leigh Whannell at the helm anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this chapter binds the lycanthropy to domestic unraveling. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. Slated for mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Guided by Eli Craig starring Katie Douglas opposite Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer eases, Warner Bros. Pictures launches the swan song of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re boards, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: throwback unease, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. The bar is raised this go, 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, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The next entry deepens the tale, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Platform Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A top daring platform piece is Weapons, a forensic chill anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

On the quieter side is Together, a room scale body horror descent featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

On the docket is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story with Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Underneath: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Written and helmed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is an astute call. No swollen lore. No legacy baggage. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW rolled out Clown in a Cornfield and a clutch of microbudget haunts near deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festivals in 2025 double as branding machines. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Elsewhere, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda pepper the schedule, many waiting on strategic holds or late deals.

Trends Worth Watching

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

SVOD originals harden up
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: Fall stack and winter swing card

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Because major titles skew dark and mythic, a late creature feature or exorcism could slide in.

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 approaching spook year to come: Sequels, filmmaker-first projects, and also A Crowded Calendar aimed at nightmares

Dek: The brand-new genre calendar crams early with a January pile-up, and then flows through the mid-year, and continuing into the holidays, combining IP strength, fresh ideas, and strategic counterprogramming. Studios and platforms are prioritizing cost discipline, theatrical-first rollouts, and platform-native promos that pivot horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

The field has solidified as the dependable lever in studio slates, a genre that can surge when it breaks through and still limit the exposure when it fails to connect. After 2023 showed studio brass that disciplined-budget chillers can lead mainstream conversation, the following year held pace with buzzy auteur projects and stealth successes. The momentum extended into the 2025 frame, where resurrections and premium-leaning entries proved there is appetite for a spectrum, from brand follow-ups to original features that resonate abroad. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a roster that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with clear date clusters, a mix of familiar brands and new concepts, and a reinvigorated eye on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and OTT platforms.

Marketers add the horror lane now operates like a versatile piece on the programming map. Horror can open on a wide range of weekends, deliver a simple premise for previews and short-form placements, and lead with patrons that arrive on Thursday nights and continue through the next weekend if the feature pays off. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 setup telegraphs comfort in that logic. The slate commences with a stacked January window, then exploits spring through early summer for genre counterpoints, while saving space for a autumn push that stretches into spooky season and past Halloween. The calendar also underscores the increasing integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and roll out at the proper time.

Another broad trend is legacy care across brand ecosystems and long-running brands. Distribution groups are not just mounting another entry. They are seeking to position brand continuity with a occasion, whether that is a art treatment that indicates a fresh attitude or a lead change that connects a latest entry to a heyday. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the eagerly awaited originals are celebrating practical craft, practical gags and place-driven backdrops. That combination yields the 2026 slate a smart balance of assurance and shock, which is a recipe that travels worldwide.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight projects that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, steering it as both a relay and a back-to-basics character piece. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the artistic posture indicates a throwback-friendly bent without repeating the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Watch for a push fueled by recognizable motifs, first-look character reveals, and a tease cadence rolling toward 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 paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will lean on. As a summer relief option, this one will seek mass reach through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format making room for quick reframes to whatever dominates the social talk that spring.

Universal has three clear entries. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The core idea is straightforward, grief-rooted, and commercial: a grieving man implements an AI companion that mutates into a dangerous lover. The date places it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to revisit viral uncanny stunts and short-cut promos that blurs romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under working names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a public title to become an teaser payoff closer to the teaser. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele titles are marketed as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second wave of trailers that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date creates space for Universal to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, links with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has proven that a gritty, prosthetic-heavy strategy can feel prestige on a efficient spend. Look for a blood-and-grime summer horror blast that pushes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio places two recognizable-IP pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, maintaining a reliable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch builds quietly. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan aims it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is positioning as a from-the-ground-up reboot 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 sharper mandate to serve both core fans and casuals. The fall slot hands Sony window to build materials around mythos, and creature design, elements that can accelerate premium screens and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film sustains the filmmaker’s run of period horror centered on rigorous craft and linguistic texture, this time circling werewolf lore. The label has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can build and expand if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate transition to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both launch urgency and viewer acquisition in the later window. Prime Video pairs acquired titles with world buys and targeted theatrical runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in library engagement, using curated hubs, genre hubs, and handpicked rows to sustain interest on 2026 genre cume. Netflix retains agility about Netflix films and festival wins, timing horror entries closer to drop and staging as events arrivals with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, operates a two-step of targeted cinema placements and prompt platform moves that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ treats carefully horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has shown appetite to pick up select projects with established auteurs or celebrity-led 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 feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for platform stickiness when the genre conversation heats up.

The specialty lanes and indie surprises

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 pipeline 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 foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, refined for modern soundscapes and visuals. 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 suggested a traditional theatrical plan for the title, an promising marker for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the autumn stretch.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, managing the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to go wider. That positioning has proved effective for filmmaker-first horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception prompts. Keep an eye on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using targeted theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP versus fresh ideas

By tilt, 2026 is weighted toward the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate franchise value. The challenge, as ever, is audience fatigue. The go-to fix is to brand each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is centering relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment turns quickly.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-centric entries keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on existing IP, the team and cast is recognizable enough to accelerate early sales and advance-audience nights.

Comparable trends from recent years contextualize the approach. In 2023, a theatrical-first plan that kept clean windows did not deter a hybrid test from performing when the brand was strong. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror hit big in premium large format. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they alter lens and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which proceeds 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 filmed consecutively, enables marketing to connect the chapters through cast and motif and to keep materials circulating without long breaks.

How the films are being made

The craft conversations behind 2026 horror foreshadow a continued move toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that accords with the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that foregrounds creep and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval world and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft journalism and craft coverage before rolling out a tease that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for visceral gnarl, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and drives shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a self-referential reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will live or die on creature and environment design, which are ideal for fan-con activations and controlled asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that elevate disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is full. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid headline IP. 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 thick, but the menu of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth spreads.

Late Q1 and spring load in summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is workable. The spoof can play next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rotated off PLF.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a transitional slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film claims October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, More about the author likely reinforced by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and gift-card spend.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production proceeds. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s machine mate escalates into something deadly romantic. 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: prestige zombie continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to encounter a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished with U.S. theatrical locked. Positioning: moody game adaptation built on atmosphere.

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 a desolate island as the control balance inverts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. 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 contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to terror, driven by Cronin’s material craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 scenario that pipes the unease through a kid’s flickering point of view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed and marquee-led occult chiller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in the creative mix. Logline: {A send-up revival that needles in-vogue horror tropes and true-crime crazes. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 bursts, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a another family bound to older hauntings. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: A ground-up reset designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-core horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: undetermined. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: closely held. Rating: TBA. Production: underway. Positioning: auteur event powered by teasers.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on period-specific language and elemental fear. Rating: forthcoming. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: window fluid, autumn forecast.

Why 2026 lands now

Three operational forces drive this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or re-slotted in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and condensed timelines. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine bite-size scare clips from test screenings, controlled scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, making room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will share space across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely horror 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 search for sleepers continues in Q1, where lower and mid-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first unexpected 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. 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy check over here slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, disciplined footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, aural design, and framing that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Dates shift. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand power where it counts, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios track how and when scares land. The awards and festival pipeline into 2027 will come into focus once the fall festivals lock, and it would not be surprising to see at least one late-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep secrets, and let the chills sell the seats.