Primordial Evil Ascends in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling feature, premiering Oct 2025 on major platforms

This bone-chilling supernatural fear-driven tale from scriptwriter / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an primeval dread when unfamiliar people become tools in a diabolical struggle. Dropping October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – hold tight for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing chronicle of endurance and archaic horror that will revamp terror storytelling this ghoul season. Crafted by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and atmospheric motion picture follows five young adults who find themselves sealed in a hidden shelter under the ominous grip of Kyra, a cursed figure consumed by a time-worn sacrosanct terror. Get ready to be drawn in by a theatrical outing that melds primitive horror with biblical origins, releasing on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Unholy possession has been a legendary trope in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the entities no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather inside their minds. This echoes the most hidden version of each of them. The result is a riveting moral showdown where the narrative becomes a unyielding battle between heaven and hell.


In a wilderness-stricken forest, five individuals find themselves sealed under the dark rule and control of a uncanny person. As the cast becomes submissive to resist her control, stranded and preyed upon by entities indescribable, they are thrust to acknowledge their raw vulnerabilities while the moments without pause strikes toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion grows and bonds crack, forcing each soul to evaluate their essence and the nature of self-determination itself. The threat amplify with every instant, delivering a frightening tale that connects supernatural terror with human fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to uncover basic terror, an power that existed before mankind, operating within soul-level flaws, and challenging a spirit that questions who we are when volition is erased.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra demanded embodying something deeper than fear. She is clueless until the takeover begins, and that conversion is terrifying because it is so visceral.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for audiences beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—providing watchers internationally can experience this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just unveiled a new video trailer for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a companion to its original clip, which has been viewed over six-figure audience.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has declared that *Young & Cursed* will also be available worldwide, taking the terror to global fright lovers.


Make sure to see this bone-rattling trip into the unknown. Face *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to witness these haunting secrets about the psyche.


For bonus footage, on-set glimpses, and promotions from the story's source, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





The horror genre’s Turning Point: 2025 in focus U.S. lineup fuses biblical-possession ideas, underground frights, paired with Franchise Rumbles

Running from last-stand terror infused with scriptural legend and extending to legacy revivals together with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is shaping up as the most dimensioned together with blueprinted year in years.

Call it full, but it is also focused. leading studios set cornerstones with known properties, in parallel digital services pack the fall with new voices plus primordial unease. In the indie lane, independent banners is drafting behind the carry of 2024’s record festival wave. With Halloween still the genre’s crown piece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The fall stretch is the proving field, however this time, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are precise, accordingly 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium genre swings back

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

Universal’s slate lights the fuse with an audacious swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The transformation is not just physical, it is marital, parental, and painfully human. arriving mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Directed by Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer winds down, Warner’s slate launches the swan song of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprise Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It is dated for early September, granting margin before October’s crush.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson re engages, and the memorable motifs return: nostalgic menace, trauma centered writing, plus otherworld rules that chill. This run ups the stakes, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, enlarges the animatronic menagerie, bridging teens and legacy players. It bows in December, locking down the winter tail.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

With theaters prioritizing brand safety, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry interlacing three eras linked by a mass vanishing. With Zach Cregger directing anchored by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Posting late summer theatrically then fall streaming, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

On the more intimate flank sits Together, an intimate body horror unraveling anchored by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It comes off amorous, macabre, and bracingly uneasy, a three act loop into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Next comes Sinners, a Depression era vampire folk fable fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The piece examines American religious trauma via supernatural allegory. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

A cluster of streaming indies sits ready: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each threads grief and absence and identity, mapping allegory to dread.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Dropping October 2 across all major streaming platforms, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. 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. 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. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is an astute call. No overinflated mythology. No sequel clutter. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Launchpads, Market Engines

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

The Fantastic Fest slate for horror is strong this year. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, a revenge folktale steeped in Aztec myth, is tapped to close with fire.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

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, with Tribeca’s genre menu reading urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Franchise Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

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. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The initial entry’s meme life and streaming legs push Universal to scale up.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, guided by Francis Lawrence, it reads as a brutal dystopian allegory inside survival horror, a walk till you drop competition for kids with no winners. 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 to Watch

Old myth goes broad
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror ascends again
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation serve as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. Titles such as Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not mere content.

Festival Hype Equals Market Leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror persists theatrically, in curated lanes.

Projection: Fall pileup, winter curveball

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. This year is not about chasing the next Get Out, it is about building horror that lives beyond the box office.



The 2026 spook season: installments, filmmaker-first projects, And A brimming Calendar engineered for shocks

Dek The fresh scare slate clusters early with a January glut, before it flows through June and July, and carrying into the festive period, combining name recognition, original angles, and data-minded offsets. Studios and streamers are committing to mid-range economics, theatrical exclusivity first, and platform-native promos that pivot these releases into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has established itself as the sturdy move in annual schedules, a space that can accelerate when it lands and still insulate the drawdown when it under-delivers. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that lean-budget fright engines can own cultural conversation, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with buzzy auteur projects and under-the-radar smashes. The head of steam pushed into 2025, where re-entries and awards-minded projects made clear there is space for many shades, from series extensions to original features that export nicely. The takeaway for 2026 is a run that feels more orchestrated than usual across players, with strategic blocks, a harmony of legacy names and new pitches, and a reinvigorated priority on theater exclusivity that enhance post-theatrical value on PVOD and streaming.

Studio leaders note the category now acts as a swing piece on the slate. The genre can launch on nearly any frame, create a quick sell for ad units and TikTok spots, and outstrip with ticket buyers that lean in on previews Thursday and stick through the second frame if the entry works. Post a production delay era, the 2026 setup reflects trust in that dynamic. The year starts with a busy January corridor, then exploits spring through early summer for alternate plays, while holding room for a autumn push that reaches into holiday-adjacent weekends and afterwards. The grid also features the increasing integration of boutique distributors and platforms that can nurture a platform play, stoke social talk, and grow at the precise moment.

An added macro current is IP cultivation across connected story worlds and classic IP. Studio teams are not just rolling another entry. They are seeking to position continuity with a occasion, whether that is a title design that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a cast configuration that bridges a incoming chapter to a original cycle. At the concurrently, the filmmakers behind the eagerly awaited originals are embracing physical effects work, practical gags and specific settings. That pairing delivers 2026 a lively combination of home base and newness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount fires first with two centerpiece bets that bracket the tone map. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the core, positioning the film as both a lineage transfer and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. Production is underway in Atlanta, and the directional approach hints at a throwback-friendly approach without covering again the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. A campaign is expected leaning on brand visuals, character-first teases, and a rollout cadence targeting late fall. Distribution is Paramount in theaters.

Paramount also revives a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are set to reunite, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will emphasize. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will pursue wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick reframes to whatever shapes the meme cycle that spring.

Universal has three defined bets. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is elegant, grief-rooted, and concept-forward: a grieving man implements an virtual partner that escalates into a harmful mate. The date nudges it to the front of a thick month, with Universal’s team likely to mirror creepy live activations and brief clips that mixes companionship and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio places an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely considered the feature developed under code names in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public release grid currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an headline beat closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Capping the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. Peele titles are positioned as director events, with a minimalist tease and a second wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The late-month date affords Universal to own pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has established that a gritty, makeup-driven execution can feel elevated on a lean spend. Look for a grime-caked summer horror rush that embraces international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most foreign territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio places two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, sustaining a consistent supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch gestates. Sony has recalibrated on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has done well historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is selling as a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a pillar part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a mission to serve both core fans and general audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build promo materials around world-building, and practical creature work, elements that can accelerate premium format interest and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by textural authenticity and period language, this time orbiting lycan myth. Focus has already booked the frame for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is positive.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Digital strategies for 2026 run on stable tracks. The Universal horror run move to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a stair-step that amplifies both debut momentum and viewer acquisition in the later phase. Prime Video combines outside acquisitions with cross-border buys and brief theater runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog discovery, using prominent placements, spooky hubs, and handpicked rows to extend momentum on 2026 genre cume. Netflix plays opportunist about Netflix films and festival pickups, timing horror entries on shorter runways and making event-like rollouts with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a hybrid of tailored theatrical exposure and accelerated platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will be critical for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before working community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a title-by-title basis. The platform has been willing to acquire select projects with prestige directors or star-driven packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leans on the 20th Century Studios slate, a meaningful lever for monthly engagement when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is curating a 2026 slate with two brand extensions. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is simple: the same foggy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, upgraded for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an encouraging sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors seeking R-rated counterprogramming in the late stretch.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday slot to open out. That positioning has been successful for arthouse horror with four-quadrant hopes. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to converge after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A sound expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can grow if reception allows. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that debuts at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using limited theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their membership.

IP this page versus fresh ideas

By skew, 2026 bends toward the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all draw on name recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to pitch each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is bringing forward character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean-slate build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is driving a French-accented approach from a emerging director. Those choices make a difference when the audience has so many options and social sentiment changes rapidly.

Originals and director-driven titles add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, features Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on legacy IP, the team and cast is comforting enough to build pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Past-three-year patterns make sense of the approach. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not preclude a day-date try from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, precision craft horror over-performed in premium screens. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which continues January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The dual-chapter plan, with chapters lensed sequentially, lets marketing to relate entries through character arcs and themes and to hold creative in the market without long breaks.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft rooms behind the 2026 entries foreshadow a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed principal and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that centers texture and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in long-lead press and technical spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that withholds plot, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for red-band excess, a signature of the series that performs globally in red-band trailers and produces shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta recalibration that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster realization and design, which match well with con floor moments and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a sound design showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel key. Look for trailers that spotlight fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that play in premium auditoriums.

The schedule at a glance

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a foggy reset amid big-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the mix of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Q1 into Q2 build the summer base. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now can handle big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer underlines contrasts. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is tight. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Late-season stretch leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously performed. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a early fall window that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a mystery-driven teaser strategy and limited information drops that elevate concept over story.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film wins with critics, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while carrying holiday turnout and card redemption.

One-sentence dossiers

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to counter a new Ghostface while the narrative reorients around the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s intelligent companion shifts into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 widens the scope beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back 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 travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a changing reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: tone-first 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 difficult boss try to survive on a uninhabited island as the power balance of power turns and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Done. Positioning: star-led survival horror from a master director.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles under wraps in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, based on Cronin’s tactile craft and encroaching dread. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: monster revival with signature voice.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting story that interrogates the fear of a child’s tricky senses. Rating: to be announced. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-built and star-led ghost thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers participating creatively. Logline: {A parody reboot that satirizes present-day genre chatter and true crime preoccupations. Rating: pending. Production: shoot planned 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 bursts, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBD. Production: currently in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: TBA. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new household bound to past horrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: consistent franchise performer in a beneficial frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A fresh restart designed to recreate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in true survival horror over action-heavy spectacle. Rating: pending. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: game-faithful modern reboot with crossover potential.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: pending. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: not yet rated. Production: advancing. 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 era-faithful speech and primal menace. Rating: TBD. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. 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 standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: date shifting, fall likely.

Why this year, why now

Three pragmatic forces inform this lineup. First, production that decelerated or migrated in 2024 needed spacing on the calendar. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and tighter 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 drops. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on clippable moments from test screenings, metered scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it succeeds.

The slot calculus is real. Early corridors for family and capes are leaner in 2026, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or sit as the slightly older-skewing alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will share space across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can pounce on a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the target range. Most of the films above will sit beneath the $40–$50 million band, with many far below. That allows for expanded PLF presence 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 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first dark-horse hit 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.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a buffet, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes for the throat, 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 hold talk and turnout without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse 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 win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing materiality, audio design, and framing 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 Shapes Up Strong

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand power where it counts, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, shape lean trailers, preserve the surprise, and let the frights sell the seats.