Mythic Dread stirs: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling thriller, streaming October 2025 across top streamers

A unnerving spectral nightmare movie from screenwriter / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an forgotten curse when newcomers become subjects in a devilish ritual. Going live on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8th, 2025) – stay alert for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking tale of overcoming and forgotten curse that will redefine genre cinema this season. Crafted by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and eerie thriller follows five figures who arise imprisoned in a cut-off wooden structure under the menacing manipulation of Kyra, a possessed female overtaken by a timeless biblical demon. Prepare to be gripped by a cinematic spectacle that combines bodily fright with ancestral stories, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Possession by evil has been a classic trope in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is inverted when the monsters no longer appear externally, but rather internally. This symbolizes the shadowy facet of each of them. The result is a riveting internal warfare where the conflict becomes a relentless confrontation between moral forces.


In a barren woodland, five individuals find themselves isolated under the ghastly presence and infestation of a uncanny person. As the companions becomes helpless to oppose her control, left alone and stalked by presences unfathomable, they are pushed to endure their soulful dreads while the timeline ruthlessly winds toward their obliteration.


In *Young & Cursed*, fear escalates and associations crack, pressuring each participant to contemplate their existence and the concept of independent thought itself. The consequences escalate with every short lapse, delivering a horror experience that combines mystical fear with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to channel instinctual horror, an evil beyond time, filtering through emotional fractures, and navigating a spirit that peels away humanity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra called for internalizing something more primal than sorrow. She is clueless until the invasion happens, and that shift is soul-crushing because it is so personal.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be launched for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that watchers worldwide can experience this unholy film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow up to its original promo, which has seen over a viral response.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, delivering the story to lovers of terror across nations.


Witness this haunted trip into the unknown. Confront *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to survive these terrifying truths about mankind.


For featurettes, director cuts, and announcements from the creators, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across fan hubs and visit our horror hub.





Horror’s major pivot: the 2025 cycle stateside slate fuses legend-infused possession, underground frights, together with franchise surges

Across life-or-death fear rooted in ancient scripture and onward to canon extensions and acutely observed indies, 2025 is tracking to be the most variegated and precision-timed year in ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. studio majors lay down anchors via recognizable brands, at the same time OTT services saturate the fall with fresh voices set against mythic dread. Meanwhile, horror’s indie wing is fueled by the tailwinds from a record 2024 festival run. Since Halloween is the prized date, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A fat September–October lane is customary now, yet in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are exacting, as a result 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Premium genre swings back

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule lights the fuse with a statement play: a refashioned Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, inside today’s landscape. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. dated for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. Steered by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer winds down, Warner’s schedule launches the swan song of its most reliable horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the formula is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

The Black Phone 2 follows. It was eyed for early summer, and shifting to October telegraphs confidence. Derrickson resumes command, and the tone that worked before is intact: retro dread, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. This pass pushes higher, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, thickens the animatronic pantheon, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It arrives in December, cornering year end horror.

Platform Plays: Economy, maximum dread

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology that weaves together three timelines connected by a mass disappearance. From Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it may catalyze deconstruction threads like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the story examines love plus envy plus self disgust as flesh ruin. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga led by Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it mirrors There Will Be Blood meeting Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled 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 dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Skipping the exorcism norm of Catholic rite and Latin line, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. That is a savvy move. No bloated mythology. No legacy baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF continue to incubate the next six to twelve months of horror. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

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

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

This cycle, festival strategy pivots from discovery toward branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

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

Also on deck is The Long Walk, from an early, punishing Stephen King work, steered by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

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.

Emerging Currents

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror resurges
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Works such as Weapons and Sinners are positioned as events, not filler.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

Forecast: Autumn density and winter pivot

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. 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 next fright cycle: Sequels, universe starters, plus A hectic Calendar optimized for nightmares

Dek: The fresh scare year packs early with a January traffic jam, thereafter spreads through the warm months, and pushing into the holiday frame, marrying legacy muscle, untold stories, and tactical counterprogramming. The major players are betting on mid-range economics, cinema-first plans, and buzz-forward plans that position these offerings into broad-appeal conversations.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror sector has turned into the most reliable release in programming grids, a segment that can scale when it resonates and still safeguard the floor when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that modestly budgeted chillers can drive pop culture, the following year continued the surge with director-led heat and sleeper breakouts. The energy carried into 2025, where revived properties and arthouse crossovers signaled there is demand for multiple flavors, from continued chapters to filmmaker-driven originals that play globally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a programming that seems notably aligned across the major shops, with planned clusters, a balance of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a renewed focus on exclusive windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital rental and OTT platforms.

Distribution heads claim the category now acts as a flex slot on the grid. Horror can premiere on numerous frames, furnish a tight logline for spots and short-form placements, and lead with fans that turn out on Thursday nights and hold through the sophomore frame if the title works. Post a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 mapping exhibits conviction in that engine. The slate starts with a thick January schedule, then targets spring into early summer for alternate plays, while carving room for a fall run that extends to the fright window and beyond. The grid also highlights the expanded integration of specialty distributors and subscription services that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and expand at the optimal moment.

A parallel macro theme is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. Major shops are not just greenlighting another sequel. They are setting up brand continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that conveys a re-angled tone or a casting move that ties a incoming chapter to a original cycle. At the in tandem, the auteurs behind the headline-grabbing originals are doubling down on material texture, in-camera effects and vivid settings. That mix gives 2026 a confident blend of assurance and unexpected turns, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount sets the tone early with two high-profile bets that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character-first story. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the artistic posture hints at a memory-charged strategy without retreading the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run anchored in iconic art, intro reveals, and a trailer cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also brings back a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative contributors for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will emphasize. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will go after mainstream recognition through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format enabling quick pivots to whatever defines pop-cultural buzz that spring.

Universal has three specific projects. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is straightforward, sorrow-tinged, and high-concept: a grieving man implements an artificial companion that unfolds into a killer companion. The date locates it at the front of a busy month, with Universal’s team likely to recreate creepy live activations and snackable content that fuses love and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which permits a public title to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele projects are presented as signature events, with a mystery-first teaser and a follow-up trailer set that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The Halloween runway creates space for Universal to own 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gnarly, on-set effects led style can feel deluxe on a efficient spend. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror charge that leans hard into international markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio lines up two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film arrives August 21, 2026, continuing a consistent supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch evolves. Sony has reslotted on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil restarts in what Sony is calling a fresh restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both franchise faithful and curious audiences. The fall slot allows Sony to build materials around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can fuel large-format demand and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, anchors a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows Eggers’ run of period horror driven by rigorous craft and textual fidelity, this time steeped in lycan lore. The label has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a public confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can scale widely if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform tactics for 2026 run on stable tracks. The studio’s horror films window into copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a sequence that maximizes both launch urgency and sub growth in the downstream. Prime Video continues to mix licensed films with worldwide buys and small theatrical windows when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu press their advantages in catalog discovery, using featured rows, horror hubs, and editorial rows to keep attention on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries with shorter lead times and making event-like drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a tiered of precision theatrical plays and quick platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will play for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to fan pipelines in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a curated basis. The platform has proven amenable to board select projects with accomplished filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for monthly engagement when the genre conversation spikes.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 corridor with two recognizable titles. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The offer is straightforward: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, upgraded 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 flagged a traditional cinema play for the title, an promising marker for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the late-season weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then activating the Christmas corridor to open out. That positioning has delivered for director-led genre with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception drives. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using boutique theatrical to spark the evangelism that fuels their membership.

Brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate leans toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness franchise value. The potential drawback, as ever, is staleness. The workable fix is to package each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is emphasizing character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is promising a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is embracing a French-accented approach from a hot helmer. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-driven titles keep oxygen in the system. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a recognizable brand, the assembly is known enough to drive advance ticketing and Thursday-night crowds.

Past-three-year patterns announce the plan. In 2023, a exclusive window model that preserved streaming windows did not foreclose a parallel release from thriving when the brand was powerful. In 2024, director-craft horror punched above its weight in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel renewed when they reframe POV and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters shot in tandem, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through protagonists and motifs and to keep assets in-market without extended gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The shop talk behind the 2026 slate foreshadow a continued shift toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is lined up for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that highlights texture and dread rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership permitting smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a raw, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead press and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a first look that elevates tone over story, a move that has paid off for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is built for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and spurs shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta inflection that centers its original star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature work and production design, which are ideal for expo activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that center precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that work in PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is loaded. 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 atmospheric change-up amid heftier brand moves. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the spread of tones gives each title a lane, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth carries.

February through May load in summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with brand warmth. In April, The Mummy restores a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Late summer into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a bridge slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a opaque tease strategy and limited previews that favor idea over plot.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as awards-flirting horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and card redemption.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s virtual companion grows into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with heart.

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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Produced consecutively with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

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: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her abrasive boss try to survive on a rugged island as the power balance tilts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, shaped by Cronin’s physical craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal wrapped. Positioning: classic monster reset with creative stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting premise that teases the fright of a child’s shaky read. Rating: TBD. Production: wrapped. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A parody return that teases hot-button genre motifs and true crime fervors. Rating: to be announced. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mainstream summer comedy-horror.

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 breaks out, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: pending. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be revealed later. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a new clan bound to residual nightmares. Rating: useful reference 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: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A new start designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an tilt toward pure survival horror over action-forward bombast. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on a development track with locked window. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: to be announced. Production: continuing. 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 historical diction and elemental menace. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: in preproduction for holiday debut. Positioning: prestige-leaning holiday genre with crafts potential.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three execution-level forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that stalled or rearranged in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will leverage repeatable beats from test screenings, curated scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

Programming arithmetic plays a role. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can lead a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will stack across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 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 stealth overachiever 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers Thursday preview surges, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, soundcraft, and image-making that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is recognizable IP where it plays, auteur intent 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the frights sell the seats.