Antediluvian Evil returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a spine tingling supernatural thriller, arriving Oct 2025 across top digital platforms

An eerie paranormal suspense film from creator / creative lead Andrew Chiaramonte, evoking an mythic evil when guests become proxies in a cursed trial. Releasing October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – get ready for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving depiction of endurance and age-old darkness that will transform horror this October. Crafted by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and immersive feature follows five people who emerge trapped in a unreachable house under the menacing manipulation of Kyra, a central character haunted by a millennia-old scriptural evil. Arm yourself to be captivated by a cinematic display that fuses gut-punch terror with folklore, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Demon possession has been a iconic motif in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that framework is radically shifted when the spirits no longer descend from external sources, but rather from their core. This suggests the malevolent element of the cast. The result is a gripping spiritual tug-of-war where the emotions becomes a unforgiving clash between moral forces.


In a bleak woodland, five youths find themselves confined under the dark dominion and overtake of a unknown female presence. As the characters becomes defenseless to withstand her will, cut off and attacked by evils ungraspable, they are required to wrestle with their core terrors while the time relentlessly moves toward their doom.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust intensifies and friendships shatter, pressuring each person to evaluate their self and the philosophy of free will itself. The tension mount with every minute, delivering a paranormal ride that combines otherworldly panic with human vulnerability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my purpose was to uncover basic terror, an curse from prehistory, influencing our fears, and questioning a power that questions who we are when freedom is gone.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something past sanity. She is oblivious until the curse activates, and that pivot is emotionally raw because it is so intimate.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google’s store, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—so that streamers in all regions can face this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just broadcast a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a response to its first trailer, which has gathered over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its initial rollout, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be taken worldwide, presenting the nightmare to a worldwide audience.


Make sure to see this soul-jarring fall into madness. Face *Young & Cursed* this launch day to confront these ghostly lessons about human nature.


For teasers, production news, and announcements directly from production, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit the official movie site.





Horror’s tipping point: 2025 U.S. calendar melds biblical-possession ideas, underground frights, and series shake-ups

Beginning with endurance-driven terror steeped in mythic scripture all the way to brand-name continuations in concert with pointed art-house angles, 2025 is lining up as the most variegated paired with precision-timed year for the modern era.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Major studios hold down the year by way of signature titles, while digital services front-load the fall with fresh voices as well as ancestral chills. In the indie lane, the independent cohort is buoyed by the tailwinds of 2024’s record festival wave. Because Halloween stands as the showcase, the surrounding weeks are charted with intent. A dense September through October runway is now a rite of passage, though in this cycle, bookings reach January, spring, and mid-summer. Horror fans are craving, studios are targeted, hence 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige terror resurfaces

Studios are not on the sidelines. If 2024 laid the groundwork for a horror reinvention, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal camp opens the year with a statement play: a reconceived Wolf Man, steering clear of the antique European village, in a clear present-tense world. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The change is not purely bodily, it is marital, parental, and achingly human. landing in mid January, it fits the new plan to claim winter’s soft window with prestige horror rather than castoffs.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Directed by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it feels like crimson splashed Midwest menace with winked critique. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early reactions hint at fangs.

By late summer, Warner Bros. delivers the closing chapter within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It sets in early September, opening runway before October heat.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Originally slated for early summer, its move to an October release suggests confidence. Scott Derrickson again directs, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: vintage toned fear, trauma explicitly handled, and eerie supernatural logic. Here the stakes rise, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Completing the marquee stack is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The new chapter enriches the lore, grows the animatronic horror lineup, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It books December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread lacing three time frames tied to a mass vanishing. Directed by Zach Cregger and starring Josh Brolin with Julia Garner, the movie mixes chill with dramatic weight. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it stands to prompt frame-by-frame breakdowns as with Barbarian.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a close quarters body horror study led by Alison Brie and Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is poised for a fall platform bow.

On the docket is Sinners, a pre war vampire folk narrative anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Imaged in sepia bloom and biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the night settles, her power spikes, an infiltrating force leveraging fears, breaks, and sorrow.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Ducking the exorcism default of Catholic ritual and Latin text, this one bores into something older, something darker. Lilith is not conjured by ritual, she surfaces through trauma, silence, and human fragility. Possession that blooms from within, not without, inverts the trope and places Young & Cursed within a growing horror trend, intimate character studies wrapped in genre.

Across Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, the film stands as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel glut and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No heavy handed lore. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This cycle, they are launchpads first and showcases second.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Heritage Horror: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, seeking to build out techno horror lore using new characters and AI born frights. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

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

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.

Dials to Watch

Mythic currents go mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Rather than nostalgia, it reclaims pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation encode heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming Originals Grow Teeth
Disposable horror filler days on platforms have passed. Platforms are putting money into scripts, directors, and promotion. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror remains on big screens, selectively curated.

Projection: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

Stacking Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons in September and October yields saturation. Indies including Bone Lake and Keeper will wrestle for room. There may be pivots into early 2026 or across platforms.

December anchors on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, yet a surprise streamer drop could appear in the final weeks. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The plan is not to clone Get Out, it is to craft horror that lives on beyond box office.



The 2026 Horror Year Ahead: returning titles, non-franchise titles, paired with A hectic Calendar calibrated for goosebumps

Dek: The arriving horror slate stacks at the outset with a January pile-up, subsequently rolls through June and July, and deep into the holiday stretch, combining series momentum, new concepts, and shrewd counterplay. Major distributors and platforms are betting on right-sized spends, theater-first strategies, and short-form initiatives that shape genre titles into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

The horror marketplace has established itself as the surest option in distribution calendars, a segment that can scale when it resonates and still safeguard the floor when it doesn’t. After the 2023 year demonstrated to studio brass that modestly budgeted pictures can lead the zeitgeist, 2024 sustained momentum with filmmaker-forward plays and word-of-mouth wins. The tailwind translated to the 2025 frame, where returns and festival-grade titles demonstrated there is a lane for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to director-led originals that perform internationally. The combined impact for 2026 is a schedule that shows rare alignment across studios, with intentional bunching, a equilibrium of brand names and fresh ideas, and a recommitted priority on theater exclusivity that power the aftermarket on premium on-demand and home streaming.

Planners observe the category now acts as a flex slot on the grid. The genre can arrive on most weekends, deliver a clean hook for promo reels and platform-native cuts, and punch above weight with moviegoers that appear on opening previews and hold through the sophomore frame if the release delivers. In the wake of a work stoppage lag, the 2026 pattern indicates confidence in that approach. The calendar opens with a front-loaded January stretch, then primes spring and early summer for counterweight, while keeping space for a autumn stretch that pushes into the Halloween corridor and afterwards. The grid also highlights the expanded integration of specialty distributors and SVOD players that can stage a platform run, create conversation, and move wide at the inflection point.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across shared IP webs and veteran brands. Big banners are not just producing another installment. They are aiming to frame continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a typeface approach that suggests a tonal shift or a talent selection that bridges a new entry to a heyday. At the very same time, the writer-directors behind the headline-grabbing originals are embracing in-camera technique, in-camera effects and site-specific worlds. That blend delivers the 2026 slate a confident blend of familiarity and shock, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount defines the early cadence with two headline bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director’s chair and Neve Campbell back at the spine, steering it as both a lineage transfer and a rootsy character piece. Production is active in Atlanta, and the artistic posture signals a fan-service aware framework without replaying the last two entries’ Carpenter sisters arc. Look for a marketing run fueled by signature symbols, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm slated for 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 reuniting, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a angle the campaign will emphasize. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will pursue wide buzz through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick switches to whatever owns the social talk that spring.

Universal has three specific lanes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is clean, melancholic, and logline-clear: a grieving man adopts an digital partner that turns into a dangerous lover. The date slots it at the front of a crowded corridor, with the marketing arm likely to replay uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that threads longing and foreboding.

On May 8, 2026, the studio books an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely rumored as the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The listed schedule currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which reserves space for a official title to become an PR pop closer to the initial promo. The timing creates a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles occupy other frames.

Closing out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film takes October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele titles are branded as director events, with a hinting teaser and a second wave of trailers that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend creates space for Universal to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then lean on the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub headlining. The franchise has established that a visceral, on-set effects led treatment can feel top-tier on a efficient spend. Frame it as a blood-and-grime summer horror rush that spotlights offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is well stocked. The studio launches two IP moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film rolls out August 21, 2026, continuing a reliable supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what the studio is billing as a new foundation for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a primary part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a charge to serve both devotees and casuals. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign creative around environmental design, and practical creature work, elements that can drive large-format demand and fandom activation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, sets a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film builds on Eggers’ run of period horror grounded in rigorous craft and dialect, this time exploring werewolf lore. Focus has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a promissory note in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform plans for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles land on copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a pacing that optimizes both premiere heat and sign-up spikes in the tail. Prime Video continues to mix library titles with worldwide entries and limited cinema engagements when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library curation, using seasonal hubs, Halloween hubs, and staff picks to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix keeps optionality about originals and festival acquisitions, dating horror entries with shorter lead times and positioning as event drops go-lives with burst campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, uses a laddered of focused cinema runs and fast windowing that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has indicated interest to buy select projects with prestige directors or star-driven packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to show bona fides before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still feeds from the 20th Century Studios slate, a notable driver for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 runway with two franchise steps. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is no-nonsense: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, elevated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has indicated a theatrical rollout for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the uncompromising series and for exhibitors seeking darker fare in the late-season weeks.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, guiding the film through select festivals if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas window to increase reach. That positioning has proved effective for auteur horror 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 sound expectation is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception encourages. Do not be surprised by an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in parallel, using targeted theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their paid base.

Brands and originals

By number, 2026 is weighted toward the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness name recognition. The question, as ever, is brand wear. The workable fix is to position each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is emphasizing relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a from-scratch reboot for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leading with a French-accented approach from a rising filmmaker. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and talent-first projects add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned 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 signature playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a precise, unnerving tech hook. Werwulf grounds itself in period and an rigorous tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the assembly is anchored enough to accelerate early sales and Thursday previews.

Past-three-year patterns contextualize the model. In 2023, a exclusive window model that held distribution windows did not hamper a day-date move from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, auteur craft horror exceeded expectations in PLF. In 2025, a reanimation of a beloved infection saga proved again that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they reorient and increase ambition. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-film strategy, with chapters filmed consecutively, gives leeway to marketing to cross-link entries through personae and themes and to hold creative in the market without long gaps.

How the films are being made

The craft rooms behind the upcoming entries signal a continued move toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance my review here that complements the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished principal and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that centers tone and tension rather than roller-coaster spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and medieval diction, a combination that can make for sonic immersion and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in craft journalism and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that leans on mood over plot, a move that has succeeded for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is set up for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta inflection that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on monster realization and design, which align with convention floor stunts and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a audio craft showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that foreground fine-grain sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that explode in larger rooms.

Calendar map: winter through the holidays

January is packed. Universal’s SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Cineverse’s Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a quiet contrast amid marquee brands. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the range of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

February through May seed summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 opens February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once belonged to genre counterprogramming and now backs big openers. The 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is smart. 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 moved through premium slots.

Late summer into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a pre-Halloween slot that still connects to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a minimalist tease strategy and limited advance reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a statement that genre can hold in the holidays when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, selective rollout, then using critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while using 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 TBA in phases as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to oppose a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s synthetic partner evolves into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal completed 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult forms in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Shot sequentially with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to meet a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. Positioning: aura-driven 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 prickly boss scramble to survive on a desolate island as the control dynamic flips and unease intensifies. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: celebrity-led survival horror from a legend.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A contemporary re-envisioning that returns the monster to nightmare, founded on Cronin’s in-camera craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Locked. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting piece that plays with the unease of a child’s fragile point of view. Rating: forthcoming. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-built and toplined paranormal suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A satire sequel that lampoons present-day genre chatter and true-crime buzz. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 erupts, with an global twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: R-rated franchise charge tuned for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: The Further widens again, with a new clan entangled with old terrors. Rating: not yet rated. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be announced publicly. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: A clean reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survivalist horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: TBD. 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: TBA. Logline: deliberately concealed. Rating: TBD. Production: ongoing. 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 era-faithful speech and bone-deep menace. Rating: forthcoming. Production: in active prep with holiday date set. Positioning: prestige-grade holiday chiller Get More Info with artisan honors in view.

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: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why the moment is 2026

Three workable forces define this lineup. First, production that slowed or migrated in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often use fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX sequences, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more methodical about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently outpaced straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, online chatter converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will amplify clippable moments from test screenings, precision scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, leaving useful real estate for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or stand as the older-leaning counter. January is the prime example. Four genre tones will stack across five weekends, which lets each title generate conversation without cannibalizing the others. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can draft behind animation and action in early summer, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the optimal band. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where value-budget genre can own weekends with minimal competition, and again in late summer, where horror often becomes the conversation when tentpoles tire. The 2026 slate is set up to use those gaps. January could easily deliver the first surprise 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. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April brings back a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, 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 keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can scale over time, using earlier releases to prime the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers reliable Thursday lifts, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, his comment is here sound, 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 Promising 2026

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, 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 last-minute boutique pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep the curtain closed, and let the fear sell the seats.