Primeval Horror returns: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 on top streaming platforms

This frightening unearthly nightmare movie from writer / cinematic mind Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an primeval force when outsiders become vehicles in a fiendish ritual. Releasing this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango’s digital service.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a traumatizing saga of staying alive and old world terror that will transform fear-driven cinema this harvest season. Realized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and immersive story follows five unacquainted souls who arise imprisoned in a wooded shack under the malignant power of Kyra, a tormented girl occupied by a ancient Old Testament spirit. Be prepared to be gripped by a filmic event that intertwines visceral dread with ancestral stories, landing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a recurring trope in visual storytelling. In *Young & Cursed*, that norm is redefined when the fiends no longer descend beyond the self, but rather internally. This marks the darkest corner of the victims. The result is a gripping spiritual tug-of-war where the story becomes a constant struggle between divinity and wickedness.


In a unforgiving natural abyss, five youths find themselves caught under the unholy influence and domination of a haunted figure. As the protagonists becomes defenseless to combat her curse, left alone and pursued by terrors mind-shattering, they are thrust to face their darkest emotions while the time without pity counts down toward their final moment.


In *Young & Cursed*, unease surges and alliances disintegrate, demanding each figure to scrutinize their essence and the philosophy of autonomy itself. The danger climb with every breath, delivering a scare-fueled ride that marries ghostly evil with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my desire was to explore raw dread, an darkness older than civilization itself, influencing human fragility, and wrestling with a presence that erodes the self when agency is lost.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra meant evoking something past sanity. She is in denial until the haunting manifests, and that conversion is shocking because it is so unshielded.”

Debut Info

*Young & Cursed* will be released for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—ensuring viewers anywhere can dive into this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new visual teaser for *Young & Cursed*, debuted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a follow-through to its intro video, which has earned over a viral response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, making the film to horror fans worldwide.


Witness this haunted journey into fear. Join *Young & Cursed* this fall premiere to explore these dark realities about our species.


For sneak peeks, special features, and announcements from the story's source, follow @YACMovie across social media and visit the film’s website.





Contemporary horror’s tipping point: 2025 across markets U.S. Slate interlaces legend-infused possession, Indie Shockers, plus brand-name tremors

Ranging from endurance-driven terror inspired by primordial scripture through to IP renewals plus sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is shaping up as the most textured and precision-timed year of the last decade.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses set cornerstones using marquee IP, simultaneously SVOD players saturate the fall with emerging auteurs paired with mythic dread. On the festival side, horror’s indie wing is surfing the carry from a record 2024 festival run. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the non-October slots are tuned with exactness. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, distinctly in 2025, rollouts stretch into January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are surgical, as a result 2025 might go down as horror’s most intentional year yet.

What Studios and Mini-Majors Are Doing: The Return of Prestige Fear

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner starts the year with a headline swing: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, instead in a current-day frame. With Leigh Whannell at the helm and starring Christopher Abbott with Julia Garner, this take locates the lycanthropy inside home disintegration. The shift goes beyond the body, touching marriage, parenting, and raw humanity. Slated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring brings Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Directed by Eli Craig fronted by Katie Douglas with Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

Toward summer’s end, the Warner Bros. banner delivers the closing chapter from its dependable horror line: 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. Even if the pattern is recognizable, director Michael Chaves reportedly leans into a mournful, interior tone for the swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Scott Derrickson is back, and the tone that worked before is intact: period tinged dread, trauma foregrounded, plus otherworld rules that chill. This time, the stakes are raised, with more excavation of the “grabber” canon and family hauntings.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a film that does not need traditional marketing to sell tickets. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It hits in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Originals: Modest spend, serious shock

With cinemas leaning into known IP, streamers are swinging risk forward, and returns look strong.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold-case linked horror tapestry braiding three timelines tied to a mass vanishing. Helmed by Zach Cregger pairing Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a two hander body horror spiral featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the piece probes how love, envy, and self loathing become bodily rot. It lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. While no platform has formally placed a date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

On the docket is Sinners, a thirties set vampire folk saga featuring Michael B. Jordan. Shot in rich sepia tones and drenched in biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Early test screenings have marked it as one of the year’s most talked about streaming debuts.

Additional platform indies hold in reserve: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each taps grief, vanishing, and identity, treating horror as metaphor more than spectacle.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Landing October 2 across key streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As the hours blacken, her hold tightens, an invasive current triggering fears, fissures, and regret.

The chill is psyche led, anchored in primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this piece touches something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

Streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home have positioned the film as a Halloween counterweight to theatrical sequels and monster revivals. It reads as sharp positioning. No bloated canon. No IP hangover. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. 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. They are increasingly launchpads rather than showcases.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate bows as a tropical body horror opener with Cronenberg and Herzog echoes. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

Midnight slots like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You earn noise for execution beyond quirky names. A24’s satire of toxic fandom inside a con lockdown aims at breakout.

SXSW lifted Clown in a Cornfield and put microbudget hauntings into market talk. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, where Tribeca’s genre program draws urban, social, and surreal.

The festival game increasingly values branding over mere discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Legacy Lines: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Unlike prior entries, this one leans into camp and prom night melodrama. Bring tiaras, red dye, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. That first run’s social and SVOD traction lets Universal push further.

Next comes The Long Walk, adapting one of Stephen King’s earliest, most harrowing works, helmed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. With clear targeting, it could become The Hunger Games for horror grown ups.

Meanwhile, reboots and sequels like Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda appear through the year, many poised for targeted windows or last minute deals.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. It is not nostalgia, it is re owning pre Christian archetypes. Horror goes beyond fright, it notes evil’s age.

Body horror swings back
Pieces such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper bring it back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Throwaway platform horror is on the way out. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival hype becomes leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theatrical is reserved for titles believed to overperform or sow sequels. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror stays in theaters, in chosen pockets.

Forecast: Fall stack and winter swing card

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies such as Bone Lake and Keeper must fight for oxygen. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

The genre’s success in 2025 will hinge not on any one title, but on how well its diverse slate reaches its scattered, increasingly segmented audience. The goal is not Get Out again, it is horror with staying power past opening weekends.



The oncoming spook release year: continuations, Originals, together with A brimming Calendar Built For chills

Dek The new scare slate loads from the jump with a January cluster, thereafter spreads through midyear, and continuing into the late-year period, weaving franchise firepower, original angles, and strategic counterweight. Major distributors and platforms are prioritizing efficient budgets, theatrical leads, and social-driven marketing that pivot these offerings into culture-wide discussion.

Horror’s status entering 2026

This space has turned into the most reliable release in studio lineups, a genre that can grow when it clicks and still protect the drag when it misses. After the 2023 year demonstrated to decision-makers that modestly budgeted chillers can shape audience talk, 2024 kept the drumbeat going with filmmaker-forward plays and under-the-radar smashes. The carry rolled into the 2025 frame, where returns and arthouse crossovers demonstrated there is appetite for varied styles, from continued chapters to non-IP projects that export nicely. The end result for 2026 is a run that reads highly synchronized across the market, with obvious clusters, a balance of household franchises and first-time concepts, and a refocused eye on release windows that drive downstream revenue on PVOD and home streaming.

Marketers add the horror lane now functions as a schedule utility on the distribution slate. Horror can open on most weekends, deliver a easy sell for promo reels and social clips, and exceed norms with crowds that arrive on Thursday nights and continue through the next pass if the picture delivers. Emerging from a production delay era, the 2026 mapping underscores conviction in that equation. The year commences with a stacked January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while making space for a fall run that pushes into holiday-adjacent weekends and beyond. The arrangement also illustrates the expanded integration of specialized imprints and OTT outlets that can platform and widen, generate chatter, and broaden at the strategic time.

A companion trend is legacy care across interlocking continuities and storied titles. The companies are not just pushing another follow-up. They are setting up lore continuity with a specialness, whether that is a title treatment that indicates a new tone or a talent selection that anchors a next entry to a first wave. At the very same time, the creative leads behind the marquee originals are championing real-world builds, on-set effects and location-forward worlds. That fusion hands the 2026 slate a vital pairing of assurance and unexpected turns, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two high-profile plays that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director position and Neve Campbell back at the core, presenting it as both a cross-generational handoff and a origin-leaning character-focused installment. Production is active in Atlanta, and the tonal posture hints at a memory-charged campaign without repeating the last two entries’ family thread. Watch for a push driven by recognizable motifs, early character teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm aimed at late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a draw the campaign will stress. As a off-tentpole summer play, this one will chase general-audience talk through meme-friendly cuts, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever owns the social talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated pushes. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a connected offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The foundation is tidy, loss-driven, and premise-first: a grieving man activates an artificial companion that becomes a killer companion. The date positions it at the front of a thick month, with marketing at Universal likely to revisit odd public stunts and bite-size content that interweaves longing and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely interpreted as the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official release calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which makes room for a branding reveal to become an PR pop closer to the early tease. The timing hands the studio a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film plants on October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are positioned as director events, with a opaque teaser and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The prime October weekend offers Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then leverage the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub anchoring. The franchise has proven that a in-your-face, prosthetic-heavy aesthetic can feel cinematic on a tight budget. Position this as a red-band summer horror rush that leans hard into international play, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most world markets.

Sony’s horror bench is loaded. The studio sets two marquee IP entries in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, maintaining a steady supernatural brand front and center while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan locks it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what Sony is selling as a ground-zero restart 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 players and new audiences. The fall slot gives Sony time to build campaign pieces around lore, and monster design, elements that can drive deluxe auditorium demand and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, plants a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film continues the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by historical precision and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is strong.

Where the platforms fit in

Platform plans for 2026 run on established tracks. Universal’s releases window into copyright after a cinema-first plus PVOD, a tiered path that boosts both first-week urgency and subscriber lifts in the later window. Prime Video interleaves catalogue additions with worldwide buys and brief theater runs when the data recommends it. Max and Hulu work their edges in deep cuts, using seasonal hubs, seasonal hubs, and collection rows to prolong the run on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix originals and festival wins, finalizing horror entries near their drops and staging as events launches with quick-run campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a dual-phase of limited theatrical footprints and rapid platforming that converts WOM to subscribers. That will be key 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+ continues to evaluate horror on a selective basis. The platform has proven amenable to pick up select projects with recognized filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to earn receipts before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney domestic still draws on the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for monthly activity when the genre conversation heats up.

Specialty and indie breakouts

Cineverse is putting together a 2026 sequence with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The angle is clean: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a beloved cult piece, modernized for modern sound and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a late-year slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has positioned a traditional cinema play for the title, an positive signal for fans of the relentless series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the fall weeks.

Focus will work the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then pressing the holiday dates to expand. That positioning has proved effective for prestige horror with broader reach. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not released many dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines tend to firm up after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a set of late-summer and fall platformers that can go wider if reception encourages. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that surges from Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work together, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their paid base.

IP versus fresh ideas

By number, 2026 favors the known side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all leverage name recognition. The watch-out, as ever, is diminishing returns. The practical approach is to frame each entry as a tone reset. Paramount is foregrounding character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-accented approach from a rising filmmaker. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Non-franchise titles and director-first projects deliver 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 crash-survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a sharp, spooky tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an hard-edged tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the cast-creatives package is steady enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

Comps from the last three years help explain the method. In 2023, a theater-first model that kept streaming intact did not block a day-and-date experiment from paying off when the brand was robust. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror rose in premium auditoriums. In 2025, a rebirth of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they angle differently and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which extends January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed sequentially, permits marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

Production craft signals

The filmmaking conversations behind the year’s horror forecast a continued emphasis on practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-effects sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Plan for a push that spotlights mood and dread rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership supporting tight cost control.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the hardest-edged project he has tackled, which tracks with a feudal backdrop and authentic period speech, a combination that can make for wraparound sound and a cold, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and technical spotlights before rolling out a preview that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has worked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is geared for red-band excess, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and sparks shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 delivers a meta refresh that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will hit or miss on creature work and production design, which are ideal for booth activations and planned releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the premium-screen pitch feel key. Look for trailers that accent pin-drop sound, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

January is jammed. 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 foggy reset amid heavier IP. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the spread of tones affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Late winter and spring stage summer. Scream 7 debuts February 27 with brand warmth. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reframes a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now nurtures big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 steps into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is light and four-quadrant, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

End of summer through fall leans series. 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 shoulder season window that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely supported by a slow-reveal plan and limited asset reveals that center concept over reveals.

Holiday corridor prestige. Werwulf on December 25 is a flag plant that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as awards-flirting horror. The distributor has done this before, selective rollout, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to extend talk into January. If the film hits with critics, the studio can scale in the first week of 2027 while turning holiday audiences and gift-card use.

Embedded title notes

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

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A bereaved man’s intelligent companion turns into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

28 Years have a peek at these guys 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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: elevated outbreak saga chapter.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man goes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a warped reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: ambience-forward 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 scramble to survive on a remote island as the chain of command reverses and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 kept quiet in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to chill, grounded in Cronin’s practical effects and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Shoot done. Positioning: legacy monster restart with director stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A family-home haunting narrative that teases the fright of a child’s fragile read. Rating: TBD. Production: completed. Positioning: studio-backed and name-above-title haunting thriller.

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 satirical comeback that teases present-day genre chatter and true-crime crazes. Rating: TBA. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites ignites, with an multinational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: R-forward continuation crafted for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA in marketing materials. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further widens again, with a young family snared by past horrors. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A fresh restart designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an priority on true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in active development with set date. Positioning: source-faithful reboot with four-quadrant path.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: TBD. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker showcase with teaser-first cadence.

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-accurate language and bone-deep menace. Rating: not yet rated. Production: actively prepping for a holiday slot. Positioning: prestige horror for the holidays, with potential awards-season craft appeal.

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 theatrical-first route ahead of platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 and why now

Three practical forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or migrated in 2024 needed calendar breathing room. Horror can patch those gaps promptly because scripts often are location-light, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and condensed timelines. 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 generated more than straight-to-streaming launches. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will harvest meme-ready beats from test screenings, metered scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that serve as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth factor is programming math. Family and superhero corridors are not as densely packed in early 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four horror lanes will coexist across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The spoof can ride the first-half wave of animated and action tentpoles, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business view: budgets, ratings, sleeper chase

Budgets remain in the efficient band. Most of the films above will stay under the $40 to $50 million threshold, with many far below. That allows for broad premium screen use 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 surprise-hit pursuit continues in Q1, where lower and 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 maximize those pockets. January could easily deliver the first left-field winner of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Anticipate a robust 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can build month to month, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors appreciate the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can command PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, aural design, and image-making 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand heft where it matters, inventive vision where it helps, and a calendar that shows studios know when and how to deliver 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-breaking specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, produce clean trailers, guard the secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.