Antediluvian Horror Reawakens within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a fear soaked horror feature, launching Oct 2025 on major platforms

This terrifying unearthly fright fest from storyteller / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an timeless fear when strangers become instruments in a devilish ceremony. Airings begin on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing account of survival and timeless dread that will reconstruct horror this harvest season. Produced by rising director to watch Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and tone-heavy thriller follows five unknowns who come to locked in a remote cottage under the oppressive sway of Kyra, a female lead inhabited by a two-thousand-year-old religious nightmare. Anticipate to be shaken by a audio-visual ride that blends soul-chilling terror with folklore, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Demon possession has been a well-established narrative in the silver screen. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is twisted when the forces no longer develop from external sources, but rather from their core. This portrays the most primal aspect of these individuals. The result is a harrowing spiritual tug-of-war where the intensity becomes a relentless fight between heaven and hell.


In a remote outland, five individuals find themselves sealed under the malevolent force and haunting of a haunted character. As the team becomes powerless to deny her will, disconnected and hunted by beings ungraspable, they are confronted to stand before their deepest fears while the seconds relentlessly moves toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread mounts and teams dissolve, compelling each protagonist to contemplate their being and the foundation of liberty itself. The pressure surge with every beat, delivering a cinematic nightmare that intertwines paranormal dread with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to explore deep fear, an darkness that predates humanity, embedding itself in our fears, and confronting a power that challenges autonomy when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something darker than pain. She is ignorant until the entity awakens, and that pivot is shocking because it is so visceral.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—providing users in all regions can be part of this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just published a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its first preview, which has pulled in over notable views.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, extending the thrill to global fright lovers.


Witness this bone-rattling journey into fear. Enter *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to confront these haunting secrets about the human condition.


For teasers, production insights, and announcements from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across platforms and visit our spooky domain.





Today’s horror sea change: 2025 U.S. Slate Mixes legend-infused possession, art-house nightmares, stacked beside IP aftershocks

Ranging from endurance-driven terror suffused with scriptural legend and including IP renewals together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is shaping up as horror’s most layered plus intentionally scheduled year in years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. studio powerhouses lock in tentpoles using marquee IP, as premium streamers stack the fall with new perspectives together with archetypal fear. Across the art-house lane, independent banners is propelled by the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the other windows are mapped with care. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, notably this year, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are disciplined, thus 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige-leaning dread rebounds

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal banner sets the tone with a risk-forward move: a modernized Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, inside today’s landscape. Led by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this telling braids lycanthropy with a family meltdown. The curse reads as bodily and relational, about spouses, parents, and people. dated for mid January, it backs a move to shape winter into a prestige corridor, not a discard corridor.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Eli Craig directs with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

As summer winds down, the Warner lot unveils the final movement within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Granted the structure is classic, 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 slots behind. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, paired with unsettling supernatural order. This time, the stakes are raised, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The next entry deepens the tale, thickens the animatronic pantheon, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It posts in December, cornering year end horror.

SVOD Originals: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the entry marries dread with character weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, a tight space body horror vignette led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Although a platform date is not yet posted, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend with Michael B. Jordan. Visualized in sepia palette with scriptural metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The terror is psychological in engine, alive with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this one burrows toward something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. It is an astute call. No overstuffed canon. No brand fatigue. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Inside spectacle, Young & Cursed may separate by silence, then rupture.

Festival Origins, Market Outcomes

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

Fantastic Fest’s horror bench is deep this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. 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. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

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

Fest circuits are brand engines as much as discovery engines. That wreath is now a starting gun, not the finish.

Legacy Brands: Sequels, Reboots, Reinventions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

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. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, and aims to widen its techno horror mythology with new characters and AI generated terrors. The first film’s success on both social media and streaming has given Universal the confidence to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Also present, reboots and sequels including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, spread through the year, most watching for smart slots or quick buys.

What to Watch

Mythic horror goes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. This reads not as nostalgia but as reclaiming pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror returns
Work like Together, Weapons, and Keeper revisit the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

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

The big screen is a trust exercise
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

What’s Next: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Keep an eye on possible slips into early 2026 or platform flips.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 anchors December, and a surprise streaming drop could still arrive late. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The new chiller cycle: entries, filmmaker-first projects, plus A loaded Calendar engineered for goosebumps

Dek: The new terror slate lines up in short order with a January crush, subsequently unfolds through peak season, and well into the holiday stretch, blending brand equity, novel approaches, and data-minded offsets. Major distributors and platforms are embracing efficient budgets, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that convert these offerings into all-audience topics.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has grown into the dependable play in release plans, a pillar that can break out when it hits and still safeguard the exposure when it stumbles. After 2023 reminded top brass that cost-conscious entries can drive audience talk, the following year continued the surge with visionary-driven titles and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam pushed into the 2025 frame, where returns and arthouse crossovers made clear there is a market for diverse approaches, from franchise continuations to non-IP projects that play globally. The aggregate for 2026 is a grid that feels more orchestrated than usual across companies, with defined corridors, a mix of marquee IP and fresh ideas, and a renewed focus on theatrical windows that fuel later windows on premium digital rental and home platforms.

Executives say the space now behaves like a versatile piece on the grid. The genre can debut on virtually any date, yield a grabby hook for previews and TikTok spots, and overperform with viewers that come out on Thursday previews and sustain through the follow-up frame if the film connects. Emerging from a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 mapping exhibits certainty in that dynamic. The calendar gets underway with a heavy January corridor, then exploits spring through early summer for contrast, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that flows toward All Hallows period and into November. The layout also reflects the expanded integration of arthouse labels and SVOD players that can grow from platform, grow buzz, and grow at the right moment.

A notable top-line trend is IP stewardship across unified worlds and legacy IP. Big banners are not just producing another follow-up. They are shaping as story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new vibe or a casting pivot that reconnects a fresh chapter to a vintage era. At the in tandem, the visionaries behind the most buzzed-about originals are returning to hands-on technique, practical gags and distinct locales. That mix delivers the 2026 slate a smart balance of assurance and invention, which is how the films export.

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

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece pushes that run the tonal gamut. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the core, signaling it as both a passing of the torch and a foundation-forward relationship-driven entry. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the creative posture hints at a fan-service aware bent without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Count on a promo wave centered on heritage visuals, intro reveals, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm arriving in late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

Paramount also reignites 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 behind the scenes for the first time since the early 2000s, a campaign lever the campaign will lean on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will drive broad awareness through viral-minded bites, with the horror spoof format inviting quick switches to whatever drives genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three specific pushes. SOULM8TE debuts January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tight, grief-rooted, and big-hook: a grieving man implements an intelligent companion that escalates into a harmful mate. The date places it at the front of a thick month, with the studio’s marketing likely to reprise creepy live activations and short reels that melds companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a proper title to become an teaser payoff closer to the debut look. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s pictures are presented as filmmaker events, with a concept-forward tease and a second trailer wave that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-October frame affords Universal to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then capitalize on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, works with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has long shown that a tactile, practical-first method can feel big on a disciplined budget. Position this as a splatter summer horror charge that spotlights global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, preserving a evergreen supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. The studio has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan sticks it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is presenting as a clean-slate approach for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both core fans and new audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build assets around mythos, and creature builds, elements that can increase deluxe auditorium demand 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 extends the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by rigorous craft and historical speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus Features has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a bold stance in the auteur as a specialty play that can open narrow then widen if early reception is strong.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on familiar rails. Universal’s slate head to copyright after a theatrical and PVOD run, a ordering that fortifies both FOMO and viewer acquisition in the late-window. Prime Video will mix library titles with international acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data signals it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in library curation, using seasonal hubs, horror hubs, and handpicked rows to prolong the run on the annual genre haul. Netflix keeps optionality about own-slate titles and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries toward the drop and staging as events launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a one-two of precision theatrical plays and rapid platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has proven amenable to take on select projects with acclaimed directors or name-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Festival-to-platform breakouts

Cineverse is curating a 2026 lane with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is uncomplicated: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, retooled for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a theatrical-first plan for the title, an positive signal for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the fall weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then deploying the holiday dates to increase reach. That positioning has served the company well for filmmaker-driven genre with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a run of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception encourages. Watch for 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 hand in hand, using small theatrical to stir evangelism that fuels their subs.

Balance of brands and originals

By proportion, the 2026 slate tips toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit fan equity. The question, as ever, is diminishing returns. The standing approach is to pitch each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is leading with character and lineage in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-tinted vision from a hot helmer. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles 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, features Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the package is familiar enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and advance-audience nights.

Rolling three-year comps frame the method. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not foreclose a hybrid test from thriving when the brand was big. In 2024, director-craft horror hit big in large-format rooms. In 2025, a resurgence of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they pivot perspective and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds 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 filmed consecutively, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character and theme and to leave creative active without extended gaps.

How the look and feel evolve

The shop talk behind this slate suggest a continued shift toward hands-on, location-grounded craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that emphasizes atmosphere and fear rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a austere, elemental atmosphere on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in feature stories and artisan spotlights before rolling out a teaser that leans on mood over plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that exports well in red-band trailers and drives shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature work and production design, which play well in convention activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that underscore surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in premium houses.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is stacked. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid macro-brand pushes. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the tone spread affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

Pre-summer months tee up summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with fan warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can pop 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 moved through premium slots.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited teasers that put concept first.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a stakes that genre can work in holiday corridor when packaged as filmmaker prestige. Focus has done this before, platforming with care, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift-card burn.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to take on a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: heritage pivot with a current edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s artificial companion turns into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech thriller with grief spine.

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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 confront a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 struggle to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order shifts and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot complete. Positioning: star-led survival piece from this page a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A modern reconception that returns the monster to menace, based on Cronin’s on-set craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting narrative that frames the panic through a preteen’s unsteady perspective. Rating: TBA. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven occult suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A spoof revival that lampoons modern genre fads and true crime preoccupations. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing scheduled for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 cross-border twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. 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: forthcoming. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a another family linked to residual nightmares. Rating: not yet rated. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A new start designed to re-establish the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on survival horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: undetermined. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: game-rooted reset with broad potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: undetermined. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

Werwulf (Focus Features, December 25, 2026)
Director: Robert Eggers. Top cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with other regulars expected. Logline: A medieval werewolf story built on era-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: TBA. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the moment is 2026

Three operational forces define this lineup. First, production that decelerated or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on reaction-worthy moments from test screenings, metered scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it works.

The slot calculus is real. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can control a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for heavy premium placement 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 stealth-hit search continues in Q1, where disciplined-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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, 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 pace and range. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back spirit play for date nights and group outings, July turns feral, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a austere, literate nightmare. That is how you fuel talk and ticketing without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, 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 grain, audio design, and picture that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Looks Exciting

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is recognizable IP where it plays, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, keep the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.