Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primeval horror, a pulse pounding chiller, streaming October 2025 across major platforms

One frightening occult nightmare movie from writer / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an mythic nightmare when outsiders become proxies in a dark experiment. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a frightful narrative of resistance and old world terror that will remodel scare flicks this ghoul season. Directed by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and claustrophobic screenplay follows five strangers who are stirred stranded in a cut-off shelter under the unfriendly control of Kyra, a female presence claimed by a antiquated Old Testament spirit. Steel yourself to be drawn in by a motion picture display that fuses raw fear with ancient myths, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a legendary narrative in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that formula is subverted when the demons no longer appear outside the characters, but rather from their psyche. This embodies the haunting part of the victims. The result is a intense mind game where the intensity becomes a brutal face-off between good and evil.


In a remote natural abyss, five friends find themselves sealed under the evil dominion and curse of a unknown figure. As the group becomes defenseless to reject her power, left alone and hunted by presences inconceivable, they are made to deal with their inner horrors while the hours unforgivingly counts down toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia mounts and teams dissolve, requiring each survivor to scrutinize their true nature and the philosophy of freedom of choice itself. The risk rise with every short lapse, delivering a horror experience that combines otherworldly panic with raw emotion.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my narrative plan was to awaken deep fear, an evil born of forgotten ages, manifesting in inner turmoil, and challenging a entity that redefines identity when robbed of choice.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra meant evoking something rooted in terror. She is uninformed until the spirit seizes her, and that conversion is terrifying because it is so emotional.”

Platform Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for audiences beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—guaranteeing viewers from coast to coast can engage with this spine-tingling premiere.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new trailer update for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its initial teaser, which has seen over strong viewer count.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be released internationally, spreading the horror to a global viewership.


Witness this mind-warping trip into the unknown. Explore *Young & Cursed* this October 2 to dive into these terrifying truths about the mind.


For director insights, making-of footage, and news from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursed across entertainment pages and visit our spooky domain.





American horror’s pivotal crossroads: the year 2025 U.S. rollouts blends myth-forward possession, independent shockers, stacked beside IP aftershocks

From grit-forward survival fare suffused with primordial scripture and extending to canon extensions plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most dimensioned along with precision-timed year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. leading studios bookend the months with familiar IP, in tandem premium streamers load up the fall with new perspectives as well as mythic dread. On another front, the art-house flank is fueled by the uplift from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. As Halloween stays the prime week, the other windows are mapped with care. A fat September–October lane is customary now, however this time, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Fans are ravenous, studios are disciplined, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Premium dread reemerges

The studios are not sitting idle. If 2024 framed the blueprint, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s schedule begins the calendar with a risk-forward move: a refreshed Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, instead in a current-day frame. Steered by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. set for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher novel refit as minimal menace. From director Eli Craig with 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. Advance murmurs say it draws blood.

Toward summer’s end, Warner’s slate launches the swan song from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Ed and Lorraine Warren return with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the movie targets a resonant finish through an infamous case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It posts in early September, creating cushion before October load.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: old school creep, trauma as text, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time, the stakes are raised, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Rounding out the big ticket releases is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, builds out the animatronic fear crew, bridging teens and legacy players. It lands in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Low budgets, big teeth

While theaters lean on names and sequels, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

Among the most ambitious streaming plays is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. Guided by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the project unites horror with dramatic charge. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a body horror duet pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Then there is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga featuring Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The film interrogates American religious trauma through supernatural allegory. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at 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

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Authored 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. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. 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. It is a smart play. No bloated canon. No brand fatigue. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festival Badges as Fuel

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

This year’s Fantastic Fest has already confirmed a strong horror lineup. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

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 lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

Legacy entries present stronger and more purposeful this time.

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

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, led by Francis Lawrence, it lands as a ruthless dystopian allegory couched in survival horror, a march where no one wins. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Emerging Currents

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, creators turn to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror retakes ground
Projects including Together, Weapons, and Keeper re center the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Services bankroll legitimate writing, legitimate directors, and proper media. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival ribbons become currency for better windows and top shelves. Forgo a festival map in 2025 and obscurity beckons.

Theatrical becomes a trust fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The rest moves to PVOD or hybrid patterns. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Forecast: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Those four, Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons, crowd September and October to saturation. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will grind for attention. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

Horror’s 2025 outcome will be decided not by one title, but by how its variety connects with splintered audiences. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The approaching terror calendar year ahead: returning titles, standalone ideas, paired with A Crowded Calendar designed for chills

Dek: The incoming scare calendar stacks immediately with a January pile-up, from there stretches through the warm months, and pushing into the festive period, blending franchise firepower, fresh ideas, and shrewd counterweight. The big buyers and platforms are betting on mid-range economics, big-screen-first runs, and influencer-ready assets that position horror entries into cross-demo moments.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This category has proven to be the consistent swing in studio calendars, a space that can scale when it breaks through and still hedge the drawdown when it stumbles. After 2023 re-taught studio brass that efficiently budgeted genre plays can drive the discourse, the following year continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and slow-burn breakouts. The carry flowed into 2025, where revivals and awards-minded projects highlighted there is demand for several lanes, from series extensions to original features that translate worldwide. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a roster that appears tightly organized across distributors, with intentional bunching, a pairing of legacy names and first-time concepts, and a sharpened stance on release windows that enhance post-theatrical value on premium home window and subscription services.

Buyers contend the space now performs as a wildcard on the grid. The genre can arrive on most weekends, offer a sharp concept for creative and shorts, and outperform with viewers that come out on early shows and return through the sophomore frame if the picture pays off. Emerging from a strike-driven backlog, the 2026 layout exhibits confidence in that model. The calendar launches with a stacked January window, then exploits spring through early summer for counterprogramming, while making space for a October build that reaches into the Halloween corridor and beyond. The calendar also illustrates the deeper integration of specialty distributors and home platforms that can develop over weeks, ignite recommendations, and broaden at the strategic time.

A further high-level trend is IP stewardship across brand ecosystems and veteran brands. Big banners are not just greenlighting another entry. They are looking to package story carry-over with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that conveys a new vibe or a ensemble decision that binds a fresh chapter to a heyday. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the most buzzed-about originals are doubling down on material texture, special makeup and location-forward worlds. That mix affords the 2026 slate a smart balance of comfort and newness, which is why the genre exports well.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount marks the early tempo with two marquee entries that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the lead, marketing it as both a lineage transfer and a back-to-basics character-centered film. Cameras are rolling in Atlanta, and the tonal posture hints at a memory-charged strategy without recycling the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Expect a marketing push rooted in legacy iconography, initial cast looks, and a tiered teaser plan aimed at late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also reawakens 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 on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will stress. As a summer counter-slot, this one will seek mass reach through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format allowing quick pivots to whatever dominates the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three unique releases. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is clean, tragic, and high-concept: a grieving man installs an artificial companion that evolves into a lethal partner. The date sets it at the front of a stacked January, with marketing at Universal likely to bring back strange in-person beats and snackable content that threads intimacy and fear.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under working titles 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 official title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. The timing secures a slot in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has thrived in before. The filmmaker’s films are presented as filmmaker events, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend affords Universal to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage 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 directs, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a tactile, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Expect a gore-forward summer horror jolt that centers global rollout, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio mounts two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, holding a steady supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has moved dates on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where Insidious has found success.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is calling a reimagined restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot hands Sony window to build assets around world-building, and monster design, elements that can lift format premiums 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 linguistic texture, this time focused on werewolf legend. The specialty arm has already locked the day for a holiday release, a bold stance in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is warm.

Where the platforms fit in

Windowing plans in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal’s slate head to copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a cadence that expands both FOMO and trial spikes in the late-window. Prime Video will mix library titles with world buys and select theatrical runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using curated hubs, holiday hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival grabs, finalizing horror entries on shorter runways and framing as events drops with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, deploys a staged of precision releases and speedy platforming that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ keeps a case-by-case stance on horror on a case-by-case basis. The platform has signaled readiness to invest in select projects with award winners or celebrity-led packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for retention when the genre conversation surges.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 sequence with two name-brand moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is direct: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, reimagined for modern sound and cinematography. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has hinted a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an positive signal for fans of the gritty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will play the auteur card with Werwulf, managing the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then leveraging the Christmas corridor to broaden. That positioning has helped for craft-driven horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A credible outlook is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using mini theatrical to ignite evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Franchises versus originals

By weight, the 2026 slate is weighted toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all use brand equity. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The go-to fix is to sell each entry as a reframed mode. Paramount is bringing forward character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is suggesting a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a continental coloration from a fresh helmer. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays keep oxygen in the system. 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, puts Rachel McAdams into a survival shocker premise with Raimi’s signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an flinty tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the deal build is anchored enough to build pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

The last three-year set frame the method. In 2023, a exclusive cinema model that respected streaming windows did not hamper a parallel release from winning when the brand was big. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror surged in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they shift POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which carries on January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters shot back-to-back, creates space for marketing to bridge entries through character and theme and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft conversations behind the upcoming entries foreshadow a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film closed principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that emphasizes atmosphere and fear rather than VFX blitz, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership bolstering cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a 13th-century milieu and era-true More about the author language, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in trade spotlights and artisan spotlights before rolling out a preview that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta-horror reset that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster aesthetics and world-building, which align with fan conventions and selective drops. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that foreground hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and quiet voids that work in PLF.

Month-by-month map

January is crowded. 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 moody palate cleanser amid big-brand pushes. The month buttons 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 credible, but the palette of tones makes lanes for each, and the five-week structure enables clean play for each if word of mouth holds.

Post-January through spring set up the summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy re-centers a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now supports 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 divides the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 delivers blood-heavy intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can win 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 shuffled through big rooms.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a late-September window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film books October 23 and will soak up cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a mystery-first teaser plan and limited pre-release reveals that put concept first.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can win the holiday when packaged as craft prestige horror. Focus has done this before, platforming carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to remain in discourse into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday momentum and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting still being revealed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s machine mate evolves into something dangerously intimate. 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 heads back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished and theatrical on deck. Positioning: fog-and-fear 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 demanding boss scramble to survive on a desolate island as the power dynamic inverts and paranoia spreads. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

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 contemporary retelling that returns the monster to fright, based on Cronin’s hands-on craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A intimate haunting setup that leverages the chill of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: pending. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers re-engaging creatively. Logline: {A satire sequel that pokes at contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: broad-lane summer entry.

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 spreads, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further reopens, with a another family entangled with older hauntings. Rating: to be announced. Production: aiming to lens in summer ahead of late-summer bow. Positioning: durable spectral IP in a late-summer sweet spot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A new start designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-driven horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: development underway with firm date. Positioning: IP-accurate revival with mainstream runway.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: continuing. Positioning: director-fronted event with teaser rhythm.

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 primal menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why this year, why now

Three operational forces drive this lineup. First, production that stalled or shuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and leaner schedules. 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 outpaced straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, social chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify repeatable beats from test screenings, metered scare clips pegged to Thursday preview nights, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

The slot calculus is real. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can seize a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror varieties will cluster 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 use a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

Budgets remain in the strike zone. Most of the films above will track under the $40–$50 million range, 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 breakout hunt continues in Q1, where midrange-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 leverage those opportunities. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers rhythm and variety. January is a banquet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets visceral, 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 sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to stage the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, 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 dimensionality, aural design, and imagery 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, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, new vision where it lands, 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, deliver taut trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the chills sell the seats.