Primordial Evil Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a nerve shredding thriller, landing October 2025 across top streamers

This bone-chilling paranormal suspense story from writer / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an forgotten entity when strangers become subjects in a demonic ritual. Releasing on October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s digital store, iTunes Movies, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Prepare yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish account of survival and ancient evil that will alter horror this cool-weather season. Crafted by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and cinematic thriller follows five characters who are stirred stuck in a far-off hideaway under the malignant sway of Kyra, a mysterious girl inhabited by a prehistoric Old Testament spirit. Anticipate to be shaken by a visual display that integrates primitive horror with spiritual backstory, unleashing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a historical foundation in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is redefined when the presences no longer manifest externally, but rather from their core. This marks the malevolent version of these individuals. The result is a psychologically brutal cognitive warzone where the plotline becomes a perpetual battle between virtue and vice.


In a desolate wilderness, five friends find themselves sealed under the unholy control and inhabitation of a elusive female figure. As the team becomes incapable to deny her manipulation, disconnected and pursued by beings inconceivable, they are pushed to stand before their raw vulnerabilities while the time coldly ticks onward toward their destruction.


In *Young & Cursed*, suspicion mounts and connections crack, requiring each figure to reflect on their being and the nature of independent thought itself. The danger intensify with every heartbeat, delivering a nightmarish journey that blends mystical fear with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to uncover core terror, an evil older than civilization itself, embedding itself in mental cracks, and dealing with a curse that redefines identity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Channeling Kyra asked for exploring something unfamiliar to reason. She is uninformed until the invasion happens, and that metamorphosis is gut-wrenching because it is so unshielded.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for home viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—giving streamers from coast to coast can survive this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just uploaded a new follow-up preview for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its intro video, which has received over a hundred thousand impressions.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be offered to international markets, extending the thrill to thrill-seekers globally.


Mark your calendar for this cinematic trip into the unknown. Confront *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to see these dark realities about the mind.


For teasers, set experiences, and updates from Chiaramonte Films, follow @YACFilm across media channels and visit youngandcursed.com.





American horror’s sea change: the 2025 season U.S. lineup blends Mythic Possession, signature indie scares, in parallel with Franchise Rumbles

Running from grit-forward survival fare grounded in biblical myth and stretching into IP renewals together with keen independent perspectives, 2025 is emerging as the richest in tandem with carefully orchestrated year in years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios plant stakes across the year with known properties, even as premium streamers prime the fall with first-wave breakthroughs paired with scriptural shivers. On the independent axis, the artisan tier is fueled by the backdraft from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. As Halloween remains the genre’s crown jewel, the year beyond October is carefully apportioned. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, but this year, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are targeted, accordingly 2025 is positioned to be the most designed season yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner begins the calendar with a marquee bet: a refashioned Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, in an immediate now. Steered by Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott alongside Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. timed for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Under Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it runs as red stained heartland dread with sharp satire. Beneath the facade, it probes hometown suspicion, boomer to zoomer divides, and mob retribution. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

Toward summer’s end, Warner Bros. Pictures delivers the closing chapter from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens are back with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment aims for closure as it frames a famed case. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Scott Derrickson is back, and the defining traits of the first sleeper return: 70s style chill, trauma explicitly handled, along with eerie supernatural rules. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Capping the big ticket run is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The return delves further into myth, builds out the animatronic fear crew, reaching teens and game grownups. It lands in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Platform Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a cold trail horror omnibus lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger and featuring Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror chamber piece starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also rising is Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

Other streamer plays queue softly: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing 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 canon. No brand fatigue. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate, a tropical body horror opener, draws comparisons to Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller drenched in Aztec lore, is set to close the fest hot.

Midnight entries such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You draw buzz for more than titles, namely execution. Backed by A24, it skewers toxic fandom amid a convention lockdown, poised to break big.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance is expected to unspool a familiar crop of grief steeped elevated horror, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Brands: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk arrives off an early Stephen King survival piece, with Francis Lawrence directing, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. Marketed correctly, it could be 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.

Trends Worth Watching

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed through Aztec curses in Whistle, teams draw on 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 symbolize heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
The era of filler horror on streamers is ending. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Without festivals in 2025, a horror film can evaporate.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The remainder goes PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not shrinking in theaters, but it is becoming more curated.

Projection: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

A cluster of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October equals 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.

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

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 upcoming terror year to come: continuations, Originals, paired with A jammed Calendar tailored for Scares

Dek: The incoming scare cycle lines up at the outset with a January crush, after that carries through midyear, and carrying into the holidays, braiding franchise firepower, novel approaches, and savvy calendar placement. Distributors with platforms are committing to responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that elevate these offerings into four-quadrant talking points.

The landscape of horror in 2026

Horror has emerged as the bankable option in programming grids, a vertical that can surge when it clicks and still safeguard the losses when it fails to connect. After 2023 proved to studio brass that modestly budgeted entries can drive pop culture, the following year extended the rally with visionary-driven titles and unexpected risers. The upswing flowed into the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles confirmed there is room for many shades, from brand follow-ups to fresh IP that resonate abroad. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a slate that looks unusually coordinated across distributors, with purposeful groupings, a pairing of established brands and novel angles, and a sharpened emphasis on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital and home streaming.

Schedulers say the space now serves as a fill-in ace on the release plan. The genre can premiere on open real estate, offer a sharp concept for spots and short-form placements, and exceed norms with fans that show up on early shows and maintain momentum through the next pass if the entry works. Emerging from a strike-impacted pipeline, the 2026 layout demonstrates certainty in that dynamic. The slate commences with a loaded January lineup, then uses spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while carving room for a late-year stretch that pushes into the fright window and beyond. The calendar also reflects the deeper integration of boutique distributors and streamers that can launch in limited release, grow buzz, and expand at the right moment.

A second macro trend is brand management across shared IP webs and veteran brands. The players are not just greenlighting another continuation. They are trying to present lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a re-angled tone or a lead change that ties a next entry to a classic era. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the most watched originals are returning to practical craft, real effects and location-forward worlds. That fusion provides the 2026 slate a smart balance of familiarity and freshness, which is how the films export.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount fires this website first with two big-ticket moves that live at opposite ends of the tone spectrum. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the helm and Neve Campbell back at the focus, positioning the film as both a legacy handover and a foundation-forward character study. Production is active in Atlanta, and the narrative stance suggests a legacy-leaning mode without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Expect a marketing push driven by classic imagery, early character teases, and a trailer cadence slated for late fall. Distribution is Paramount’s theatrical route.

Paramount also resurrects a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a selling point the campaign will foreground. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will chase wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format making room for quick reframes to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three unique entries. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is straightforward, somber, and easily pitched: a grieving man implements an algorithmic mate that shifts into a dangerous lover. The date locates it at the front of a heavy month, with Universal’s promo team likely to mirror strange in-person beats and short-form creative that threads love and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which allows a title reveal to become an attention spike closer to the opening teaser. The timing gives the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles crowd different corridors.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has excelled in before. Peele’s releases are branded as filmmaker events, with a hinting teaser and a second trailer wave that set the tone without spoiling the concept. The holiday-adjacent corridor gives Universal room to command pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has long shown that a visceral, physical-effects centered execution can feel high-value on a middle budget. Frame it as a grime-caked summer horror jolt that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is surprisingly deep. The studio rolls out two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, preserving a consistent supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has often excelled.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil comes back in what Sony is presenting as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a key part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both franchise faithful and fresh viewers. The fall slot lets Sony to build marketing units around setting detail, and monster design, elements that can fuel IMAX and PLF uptake and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror built on historical precision and textual fidelity, this time driven by werewolf stories. The company has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in the auteur as a specialty play that can broaden if early reception is positive.

Streaming windows and tactics

Windowing plans in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s horror titles feed copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a ladder that maximizes both launch urgency and sign-up momentum in the later phase. Prime Video interleaves licensed content with cross-border buys and limited cinema engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu work their edges in library engagement, using editorial spots, spooky hubs, and handpicked rows to increase tail value on 2026 genre cume. Netflix keeps optionality about original films and festival deals, dating horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops debuts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a one-two of targeted cinema placements and quick platforming that translates talk to trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before turning to niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to buy select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star-led 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 leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for monthly engagement when the genre conversation intensifies.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is structuring 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 straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a favorite of fans, refined for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has telegraphed a traditional cinema play for the title, an positive signal for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, piloting the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday dates to broaden. That positioning has paid off for craft-driven horror with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Anticipate 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 as a pair, using limited theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their membership.

Known brands versus new stories

By weight, the 2026 slate skews toward the brand-heavy side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage fan equity. The concern, as ever, is brand erosion. The pragmatic answer is to package each entry as a renewed feel. Paramount is leading with character and continuity in Scream 7, Sony is promising a new foundation for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Non-franchise titles and filmmaker-first projects bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a marooned survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the assembly is grounded enough to translate curiosity into advance sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns help explain the logic. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that observed windows did not stop a parallel release from working when the brand was trusted. In 2024, director-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they reorient and expand the canvas. 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 paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, provides the means for marketing to interlace chapters through character web and themes and to leave creative active without dead zones.

How the look and feel evolve

The craft rooms behind this year’s genre telegraph a continued move toward physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is headed for its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that underscores grain and menace rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has described Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and artisan spotlights before rolling out a first look that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and creates shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a meta inflection that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will live or die on monster aesthetics and world-building, which fit with convention activations and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel key. Look for trailers that foreground fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that land in big rooms.

Annual flow

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. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a atmospheric change-up amid headline IP. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the palette of tones ensures lanes for each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth sustains.

Early-year through spring load in summer. Scream 7 comes February 27 with nostalgia heat. In April, The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once suited genre counterprogramming and now can handle 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 splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have rolled through premiums.

Back half into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil steps in after September 18, a early fall window that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a minimalist tease strategy and limited information drops that elevate concept over story.

Christmas prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a declaration that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, slow-rolling, then leveraging critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to keep the film in the conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s virtual companion becomes something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the Source ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to collide with a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked and U.S. theatrical booked. 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 work to survive on a rugged island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia builds. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. 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 not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to menace, grounded in Cronin’s in-camera craft and creeping dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting setup that twists the dread of a child’s tricky senses. Rating: not yet rated. 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 back in creative roles. Logline: {A satirical comeback that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fixations. Rating: to be announced. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: to be announced. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new clan snared by long-buried horrors. Rating: pending. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A restart designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in classic survival-horror tone over action spectacle. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: purposely secretive. Rating: not yet rated. Production: proceeding. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 raw menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: specialty holiday horror poised for crafts recognition.

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 theaters-first plan ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the calendar favors 2026

Three nuts-and-bolts forces define this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or re-sequenced in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and tighter schedules. 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming placements. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine social-ready stingers from test screenings, controlled scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early 2026 is less crowded with family and superhero corridors, creating valuable space for genre entries that can command a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will stack across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Cost, ratings, and sleeper dynamics

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will come in under $40–$50 million, 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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to exploit those windows. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner 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. Expect a healthy PVOD phase across the board, 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 momentum and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to prep the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, lean footprints, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, soundcraft, 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, Ready To Roar

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is franchise muscle where it helps, original vision 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-arriving specialty entry join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.