Mythic Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across major platforms

An haunting mystic horror tale from creator / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, unleashing an primordial evil when foreigners become proxies in a devilish trial. Dropping on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango on-demand.

L.A., CA (August 8th, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking tale of overcoming and mythic evil that will resculpt fear-driven cinema this autumn. Guided by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and shadowy feature follows five unacquainted souls who emerge locked in a off-grid cottage under the menacing control of Kyra, a possessed female inhabited by a time-worn ancient fiend. Be prepared to be enthralled by a theatrical adventure that harmonizes raw fear with biblical origins, premiering on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a mainstay theme in cinema. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is reversed when the beings no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather inside their minds. This illustrates the malevolent shade of the group. The result is a relentless mental war where the plotline becomes a ongoing fight between purity and corruption.


In a haunting landscape, five campers find themselves contained under the ghastly sway and grasp of a secretive being. As the team becomes incapable to resist her command, stranded and stalked by forces impossible to understand, they are driven to wrestle with their raw vulnerabilities while the countdown harrowingly winds toward their fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread rises and alliances implode, demanding each protagonist to evaluate their personhood and the integrity of liberty itself. The threat magnify with every tick, delivering a cinematic nightmare that combines ghostly evil with human fear.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to extract basic terror, an threat beyond recorded history, emerging via human fragility, and highlighting a being that dismantles free will when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra called for internalizing something beneath mortal despair. She is unaware until the demon emerges, and that turn is terrifying because it is so internal.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be available for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that subscribers no matter where they are can dive into this terrifying film.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first preview, which has gathered over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has announced that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Do not miss this visceral descent into hell. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this day of reckoning to witness these fearful discoveries about the human condition.


For previews, special features, and news from inside the story, follow @YACMovie across your socials and visit the official movie site.





U.S. horror’s decisive shift: 2025 U.S. lineup melds primeval-possession lore, festival-born jolts, in parallel with returning-series thunder

Across pressure-cooker survival tales grounded in ancient scripture and extending to installment follow-ups plus keen independent perspectives, 2025 is lining up as the most variegated in tandem with blueprinted year in years.

It is loaded, and also intentionally sequenced. top-tier distributors set cornerstones by way of signature titles, even as streaming platforms saturate the fall with unboxed visions set against ancestral chills. At the same time, the independent cohort is riding the momentum from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. With Halloween holding the peak, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, and now, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are intentional, therefore 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: Prestige terror resurfaces

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 prepared the terrain, 2025 doubles down.

the Universal camp sets the tone with an audacious swing: a modernized Wolf Man, situated not in a foggy nineteenth century European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. Under director Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this version roots the lycanthropy in family fracture. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. dated for mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher conversion presented as stripped terror. Eli Craig directs fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the costume, it needles small town fear, cross generational rifts, and crowd punishment. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer winds down, the WB camp bows the concluding entry from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

Then comes The Black Phone 2. Initially pegged for early summer, an October berth implies conviction. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: period tinged dread, trauma driven plotting, and eerie supernatural logic. The ante is higher this round, by digging further into the “grabber” mythos and grief’s generational echo.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The new chapter enriches the lore, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, and targets both teens and thirtysomething fans of the original game. It lands in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Firsts: Modest spend, serious shock

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Guided by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Rolling out in theaters late summer before fall platform release, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a sealed box body horror arc starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Trapped in a far off rental as a holiday fractures, the film explores what happens when love, envy, and self hatred merge into physical decay. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. With no dated platform window yet, it is virtually assured for fall.

Next comes Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend led by Michael B. Jordan. Lensed in lush sepia and soaked in biblical metaphor, it suggests There Will Be Blood blended with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed reads as a rare blend, small in footprint yet mythic in spread. Penned and steered by Andrew Chiaramonte, the film follows five strangers who wake in a remote wilderness cabin under the thrall of Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. That possession comes from within, not without, flips the trope and aligns Young & Cursed with a growing trend in horror, intimate character studies that dress themselves in the skin of genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. It is a clever angle. No heavy handed lore. No franchise baggage. Just pure psychological dread, contained, tense, and tailor made for the binge and breathe rhythm of digital horror fans. In a spectacle stack, Young & Cursed could be the hush before the shriek.

Festival Born and Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF act as proving grounds for the next waves. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest this cycle touts a strong horror menu. Primate opens with tropical body horror, sparking Cronenberg plus Herzog comps. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW bowed Clown in a Cornfield while feeding deal chatter for microbudget haunts. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more 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.

Heritage Horror: Follow Ups, Restarts, and Reframes

The returning series menu is stronger and more calculated than before.

Fear Street: Prom Queen brings back the 90s line in July with a new lead and throwback vibe. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, poised to elaborate techno horror lore through new players and AI nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

Another headline is The Long Walk, adapting a grim early Stephen King piece, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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

Dials to Watch

Mythic dread mainstreams
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning 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 swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation are standing in for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streamer originals stiffen their spine
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Platforms show up with budgets for scripts, directors, and campaigns. Entries like Weapons and Sinners get event treatment, not inventory.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios are only releasing horror theatrically if they believe it will overperform or spin into sequels. Everything else heads to PVOD or hybrid drops. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn overload with a winter wildcard

Put Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons into September and October and you get saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. Watch for one or more of these to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

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

The hinge is broad reach to atomized viewers, not single tentpoles. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The forthcoming 2026 fright year to come: follow-ups, filmmaker-first projects, paired with A brimming Calendar geared toward nightmares

Dek: The arriving scare calendar lines up up front with a January bottleneck, then extends through the mid-year, and carrying into the holiday frame, weaving brand heft, fresh ideas, and data-minded counterweight. Studios and platforms are focusing on cost discipline, theatrical leads, and platform-native promos that frame horror entries into water-cooler talk.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

This space has become the sturdy tool in studio calendars, a vertical that can break out when it resonates and still mitigate the downside when it under-delivers. After 2023 proved to strategy teams that disciplined-budget pictures can galvanize the zeitgeist, 2024 continued the surge with auteur-driven buzzy films and unexpected risers. The momentum moved into 2025, where revived properties and awards-minded projects confirmed there is a lane for multiple flavors, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that carry overseas. The result for 2026 is a programming that seems notably aligned across the field, with purposeful groupings, a equilibrium of marquee IP and untested plays, and a tightened focus on cinema windows that feed downstream value on paid VOD and home platforms.

Distribution heads claim the category now acts as a versatile piece on the distribution slate. The genre can arrive on many corridors, generate a quick sell for trailers and short-form placements, and over-index with audiences that arrive on opening previews and stay strong through the second weekend if the movie works. After a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 cadence telegraphs conviction in that setup. The year opens with a front-loaded January window, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while clearing room for a October build that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The program also spotlights the expanded integration of indie distributors and home platforms that can platform a title, spark evangelism, and roll out at the inflection point.

A second macro trend is brand curation across connected story worlds and legacy IP. Big banners are have a peek at these guys not just pushing another continuation. They are moving to present threaded continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a logo package that announces a tonal shift or a ensemble decision that links a latest entry to a first wave. At the in tandem, the directors behind the marquee originals are prioritizing real-world builds, makeup and prosthetics and site-specific worlds. That blend produces 2026 a healthy mix of trust and freshness, which is what works overseas.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two spotlight plays that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the focus, setting it up as check over here both a succession moment and a return-to-roots character-driven entry. The film is shooting in Atlanta, and the creative stance hints at a roots-evoking mode without going over the last two entries’ family thread. A campaign is expected driven by legacy iconography, character previews, and a rollout cadence landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will double down on. As a summer counter-slot, this one will generate mass reach through social-friendly gags, with the horror spoof format making room for quick turns to whatever tops trend lines that spring.

Universal has three specific plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a AI-tinged spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is simple, somber, and concept-forward: a grieving man installs an virtual partner that shifts into a dangerous lover. The date places it at the front of a packed window, with Universal’s team likely to replay strange in-person beats and short-cut promos that melds intimacy and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a title drop to become an headline beat closer to the initial tease. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Supplementing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has worked well before. The filmmaker’s films are branded as creative events, with a mystery-first teaser and a second trailer wave that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The prime October weekend lets the studio to saturate 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 commands, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has repeatedly shown that a gnarly, on-set effects led approach can feel big on a lean spend. Expect a red-band summer horror charge that embraces global traction, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is notably deep. The studio mounts two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film bows August 21, 2026, keeping a proven supernatural brand on the board while the spin-off branch incubates. The studio has reshuffled on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reappears in what the studio is marketing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a central part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a explicit mandate to serve both loyalists and novices. The fall slot gives Sony time to build assets around mythos, and creature effects, elements that can increase premium booking interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, positions a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror built on immersive craft and period speech, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is warm.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform windowing in 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s horror titles head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a tiered path that expands both FOMO and trial spikes in the later phase. Prime Video continues to mix third-party pickups with cross-border buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data supports it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in archive usage, using timely promos, spooky hubs, and programmed rows to prolong the run on 2026 genre cume. Netflix remains opportunistic about in-house releases and festival additions, timing horror entries near their drops and positioning as event drops debuts with surge campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a staged of focused cinema runs and fast windowing that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will be meaningful for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before relying on horror-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to board select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet Oscar thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still capitalizes on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important element for sustained usage when the genre conversation ramps.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 pipeline with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is clear: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a diehard favorite, reimagined for modern mix 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 signaled a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the late stretch.

Focus will push the auteur angle with Werwulf, piloting the title through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the December frame to open out. That positioning has paid off for filmmaker-driven genre with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not locked many 2026-specific horror dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception drives. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using targeted theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their subscriber growth.

Brands and originals

By number, 2026 bends toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage cultural cachet. The concern, as ever, is overexposure. The operating solution is to brand each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is leading with character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French-accented approach from a buzzed-about director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment moves quickly.

Originals and director-driven titles supply the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be framed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, places Rachel McAdams into a island-set survival premise with the director’s playful dread. SOULM8TE offers a clean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf brings period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a brand, the deal build is steady enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and preview-night turnout.

Comps from the last three years illuminate the strategy. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that held distribution windows did not hamper a day-date move from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, craft-forward auteur horror punched above its weight in premium large format. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel novel when they pivot perspective and scale the storytelling. 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 paired-chapter approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, enables marketing to link the films through character and theme and to leave creative active without doldrums.

How the films are being made

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries suggest a continued move toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the prosthetic-forward taste he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that underscores texture and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most forbidding project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in long-lead press and technical spotlights before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has performed for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for red-band excess, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and earns shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 targets a self-aware reset that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will succeed or falter on creature work and production design, which play well in fan conventions and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the auditorium case feel primary. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that sing on PLF.

The schedule at a glance

January is stacked. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid bigger brand plays. The month closes 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 credible, but the tone spread carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth spreads.

Q1 into Q2 stage summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 connects into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer splits the lanes. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. The spoof can hit next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have run their PLF course.

End of summer through fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously connected. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a bridge slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event holds October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited plot reveals that trade in concept over detail.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as auteur prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, slow-rolling, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can extend in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card burn.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting in progress as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s essence. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: return-to-core with a fresh edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s virtual companion unfolds into something deadly romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed principal photography for an early-year bow. Positioning: digital-age horror with pathos.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult coalesces in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Twin-shot 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 journeys back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to face a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. Positioning: gothic-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 abrasive boss battle to survive on a lonely island as the control balance tilts and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A modern reimagining that returns the monster to chill, rooted in Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: classic monster revival with auteur stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting story that routes the horror through a little one’s shifting subjective lens. Rating: rating pending. Production: post-ready. 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 send-up revival that pokes at of-the-moment horror beats and true crime fervors. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: fall 2025 production window. Positioning: wide-lane seasonal counterprogram.

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 detonates, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: awaiting reveal. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new clan linked to old terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: forthcoming. Top cast: pending. Logline: A fresh restart Source designed to reframe the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on classic survival-horror tone over action-forward bombast. Rating: TBA. 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: forthcoming. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: forthcoming. Production: active. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 time-true diction and primordial menace. Rating: to be announced. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 cinema-first path before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three hands-on forces define this lineup. First, production that decelerated or reshuffled in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more measured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming drops. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

There is also the slotting calculus. Early-2026 family and superhero concentrations ease, offering breathing room for genre entries that can lead a weekend or serve as the mature-skew alternative. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will cluster across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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 sleeper-hit hunt continues in Q1, where cost-efficient genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first shock over-performer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

How the viewing year plays

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a array, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a two-beat supernatural run for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you preserve buzz while driving admissions without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can ratchet upward, using earlier releases to condition the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can justify premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, audio design, and camera work that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts adjust. But the spine of 2026 horror is intact. There is brand equity where it matters, original vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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, produce clean trailers, keep the secrets, and let the shudders sell the seats.