Primordial Evil Surfaces in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a bone chilling chiller, arriving October 2025 across top streamers

One blood-curdling otherworldly suspense film from storyteller / cinema craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primeval evil when unknowns become instruments in a devilish struggle. Available October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand.

Hollywood, CA (August 8th, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish depiction of living through and mythic evil that will redefine horror this Halloween season. Realized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and immersive tale follows five characters who regain consciousness stuck in a isolated dwelling under the aggressive command of Kyra, a female presence consumed by a ancient sacred-era entity. Brace yourself to be absorbed by a immersive presentation that melds primitive horror with ancestral stories, premiering on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Cursed embodiment has been a well-established trope in the entertainment world. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is twisted when the malevolences no longer emerge from elsewhere, but rather deep within. This suggests the grimmest corner of the cast. The result is a intense inner struggle where the suspense becomes a soul-crushing contest between light and darkness.


In a barren forest, five young people find themselves isolated under the dark dominion and inhabitation of a mysterious female figure. As the youths becomes powerless to reject her dominion, isolated and pursued by forces beyond comprehension, they are thrust to stand before their inner horrors while the time harrowingly moves toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, tension amplifies and bonds erode, forcing each soul to evaluate their values and the structure of free will itself. The threat climb with every tick, delivering a horror experience that integrates paranormal dread with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to uncover pure dread, an presence born of forgotten ages, embedding itself in inner turmoil, and dealing with a presence that forces self-examination when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra needed manifesting something deeper than fear. She is ignorant until the invasion happens, and that pivot is gut-wrenching because it is so visceral.”

Streaming Info

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for horror fans beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving customers around the globe can witness this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new official preview for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its intro video, which has garnered over notable views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, spreading the horror to a worldwide audience.


Experience this gripping exploration of dread. Join *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to dive into these nightmarish insights about the psyche.


For behind-the-scenes access, filmmaker commentary, and press updates from the cast and crew, follow @YoungAndCursedFilm across your favorite networks and visit the official movie site.





Today’s horror watershed moment: calendar year 2025 U.S. release slate weaves myth-forward possession, underground frights, plus Franchise Rumbles

Running from fight-to-live nightmare stories inspired by primordial scripture all the way to brand-name continuations alongside surgical indie voices, 2025 is emerging as the most complex along with strategic year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio majors lay down anchors via recognizable brands, concurrently streaming platforms saturate the fall with new perspectives and ancient terrors. In parallel, festival-forward creators is propelled by the uplift from an unprecedented 2024 fest surge. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. The autumn corridor is the classic sprint, distinctly in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are disciplined, and 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 planted the seeds, 2025 scales the plan.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a statement play: a reimagined Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, in an immediate now. Led by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

The spring frame introduces Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. From director Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early festival buzz suggests it has teeth.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s schedule bows the concluding entry within its surest horror brand: 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, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson re boards, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: nostalgic menace, trauma as theme, and a cold supernatural calculus. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The follow up digs further into canon, builds out the animatronic fear crew, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Originals: Tight funds, wide impact

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. Led by Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a two hander body horror spiral featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is virtually assured for fall.

In the mix sits Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the work follows five strangers rousing in a remote timber cabin, under Kyra’s control, 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 horror here is psychological but charged with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a calculated bet. No overinflated mythology. No brand fatigue. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and surfaced several microbudget hauntings that circle deals. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Festival laurels are opening moves, not closing notes.

Legacy Lines: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 drops late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, guided by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

What to Watch

Ancient myth goes wide
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
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 shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Outlook: Fall crush plus winter X factor

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will have to fight for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

The trick lies in diverse menus finding segmented crowds, not single title bets. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The next scare lineup: entries, filmmaker-first projects, And A hectic Calendar calibrated for screams

Dek: The incoming terror season clusters immediately with a January crush, then rolls through summer, and straight through the holiday stretch, mixing marquee clout, fresh ideas, and shrewd counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are embracing mid-range economics, theatrical-first rollouts, and viral-minded pushes that elevate the slate’s entries into water-cooler talk.

Where horror stands going into 2026

This space has turned into the dependable swing in studio lineups, a vertical that can spike when it lands and still protect the liability when it misses. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for greenlighters that low-to-mid budget entries can command the zeitgeist, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The trend flowed into 2025, where revived properties and elevated films made clear there is room for several lanes, from returning installments to director-led originals that perform internationally. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a roster that feels more orchestrated than usual across distributors, with intentional bunching, a combination of established brands and first-time concepts, and a renewed focus on theatrical windows that amplify PVOD and streaming on paid VOD and platforms.

Studio leaders note the category now works like a flex slot on the grid. The genre can debut on nearly any frame, yield a easy sell for teasers and short-form placements, and outstrip with viewers that respond on previews Thursday and hold through the subsequent weekend if the picture satisfies. On the heels of a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 cadence telegraphs confidence in that engine. The calendar kicks off with a crowded January run, then taps spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while leaving room for a September to October window that flows toward the fright window and into post-Halloween. The arrangement also reflects the tightening integration of specialty arms and home platforms that can grow from platform, build word of mouth, and expand at the right moment.

A further high-level trend is series management across shared IP webs and established properties. The studios are not just releasing another installment. They are seeking to position lineage with a heightened moment, whether that is a art treatment that telegraphs a new tone or a casting pivot that reconnects a next entry to a foundational era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the marquee originals are prioritizing real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and vivid settings. That combination yields 2026 a solid mix of brand comfort and invention, which is what works overseas.

The studios and mini-majors, and how they are playing the year

Paramount plants an early flag with two headline releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the focus, marketing it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning character-forward chapter. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach signals a fan-service aware bent without retreading the last two entries’ sisters storyline. Plan for a rollout centered on signature symbols, initial cast looks, and a promo sequence aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are back together, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will double down on. As a counterweight in summer, this one will seek wide buzz through share-ready beats, with the horror spoof format making room for quick pivots to whatever dominates horror talk that spring.

Universal has three clear pushes. SOULM8TE bows January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is crisp, melancholic, and high-concept: a grieving man purchases an virtual partner that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s team likely to revisit off-kilter promo beats and short-form creative that hybridizes romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules 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 posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a proper title to become an marketing beat closer to the teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. The filmmaker’s films are treated as director events, with a mystery-first teaser and a subsequent trailers that prime atmosphere without details the concept. The late-month date offers Universal room to take 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, joins with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček commands, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has made clear that a gritty, practical-effects forward treatment can feel elevated on a middle budget. Position this as a viscera-heavy summer horror hit that centers global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio places two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, maintaining a trusty supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch advances. Sony has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is marketing as a new foundation 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 sharper mandate to serve both loyalists and curious audiences. The fall slot hands Sony window to build promo materials around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can accelerate PLF interest and fan-forward engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror defined by historical precision and period language, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is robust.

How the platforms plan to play it

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on well-known grooves. The studio’s horror films transition to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that fortifies both FOMO and sub growth in the back half. Prime Video pairs licensed content with global originals and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu focus their lanes in catalog discovery, using editorial spots, seasonal hubs, and curated strips to prolong the run on the annual genre haul. Netflix stays nimble about internal projects and festival acquisitions, timing horror entries tight to release and framing as events arrivals with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a one-two of selective theatrical runs and accelerated 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 using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to invest in select projects with established auteurs or headline-cast packages, then give them a art-house footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to generate social proof 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 surges.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 track with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The pitch is tight: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, elevated for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a September to November window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has signaled a wide-to-platform plan for the title, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the September weeks.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, piloting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then turning to the December frame to increase reach. That positioning has paid off for auteur horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not publicly set many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using select theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By count, the 2026 slate tilts in favor of the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness brand equity. The trade-off, as ever, is brand erosion. The operating solution is to present each entry as a recalibration. Paramount is leading with character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is indicating a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a Francophone tone from a ascendant talent. Those choices register when the audience has so many options and social sentiment swings fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be pitched as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a crash-survival premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is assuring enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and preview-night crowds.

Comps from the last three years frame the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that held distribution windows did not deter a simultaneous release test from working when the brand was powerful. In 2024, director-craft horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reframe POV and scale the storytelling. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which advances January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters filmed in sequence, allows marketing to bridge entries through relationships and themes and to leave creative active without long gaps.

Creative tendencies and craft

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind these films telegraph a continued preference for real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that echoes the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that highlights atmosphere and fear rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget prudence.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has spoken of Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and archaic dialect, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a preview that elevates tone over story, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at goopy mayhem, a signature of the series that travels well in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta refresh that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature execution and sets, which match well with booth activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel compelling. Look for trailers that highlight razor sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

How the year maps out

January is heavy. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a tonal palate cleanser amid headline IP. The month finishes 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 variety of tones carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure permits a clean run for each if word of mouth carries.

Pre-summer months prime the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reimagines a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest feeds older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

August into fall leans recognizable. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously done well. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-October slot that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can win the holiday when packaged as filmmaker-first prestige. The distributor Young & Cursed has done this before, staging carefully, then activating critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film resonates with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and gift card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to challenge a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to 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 grieving man’s digital partner mutates into something dangerously intimate. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked 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 extends the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man ventures back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: atmospheric game 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 severe boss push to survive on a remote island as the power balance reverses and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-front survival film 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, anchored by Cronin’s material craft and slow-bloom dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting piece that routes the horror through a youngster’s flickering personal vantage. Rating: forthcoming. Production: post-ready. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A comic send-up that lampoons contemporary horror memes and true crime fixations. Rating: undetermined. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites flares, with an globe-spanning twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: lensing 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: TBA. Logline: The Further widens again, with a unlucky family caught in lingering terrors. Rating: to be announced. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-core horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: undetermined. 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: undisclosed. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: TBA. Production: moving forward. 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 fear. Rating: pending. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

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

Why the moment is 2026

Three hands-on forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that slowed or recalendared in 2024 demanded space on the calendar. Horror can backfill quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale CGI sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more strict about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently out-earned straight-to-streaming premieres. Third, platform buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work repeatable beats from test screenings, controlled scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four distinct flavors of horror will jostle across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can make hay in a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, 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 sleeper chase continues in Q1, where low-to-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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first quiet breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, 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 tasting table, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a ghostly double-hit for date nights and group outings, July gets blood-slick, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a icy, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors respond well to the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, smart allocations, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can qualify for PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, sound field, 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.

A Promising 2026

Timing shifts. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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 secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.