Ancient Dread Stirs in Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a pulse pounding thriller, launching Oct 2025 on top streamers

This bone-chilling spectral fright fest from writer / director Andrew Chiaramonte, setting free an prehistoric malevolence when drifters become tokens in a supernatural ceremony. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, Google’s YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes, Apple TV Plus, and Fandango’s digital service.

Hollywood, CA (August 8, 2025) – get set for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing tale of resistance and old world terror that will alter the horror genre this scare season. Produced by rising cinematic craftsman Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and moody film follows five lost souls who awaken imprisoned in a isolated shack under the menacing control of Kyra, a troubled woman controlled by a two-thousand-year-old sacred-era entity. Anticipate to be hooked by a big screen outing that fuses soul-chilling terror with ancient myths, premiering on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a long-standing foundation in horror films. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is reimagined when the demons no longer develop from beyond, but rather from their core. This marks the most primal version of all involved. The result is a riveting cognitive warzone where the story becomes a unyielding push-pull between innocence and sin.


In a wilderness-stricken no-man's-land, five individuals find themselves cornered under the dark grip and grasp of a elusive woman. As the ensemble becomes incapable to withstand her power, marooned and preyed upon by terrors ungraspable, they are compelled to endure their inner demons while the time mercilessly edges forward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety deepens and associations erode, urging each member to evaluate their character and the idea of volition itself. The intensity amplify with every instant, delivering a cinematic nightmare that connects ghostly evil with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to explore instinctual horror, an evil before modern man, influencing our fears, and questioning a curse that tests the soul when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra meant evoking something outside normal anguish. She is clueless until the evil takes hold, and that transition is soul-crushing because it is so visceral.”

Where to Watch

*Young & Cursed* will be offered for home viewing beginning from October 2, 2025, on Amazon’s platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—allowing streamers across the world can be part of this paranormal experience.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just premiered a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, streaming to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a continuation to its original clip, which has racked up over 100,000 views.


In addition to its regional launch, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has revealed that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, presenting the nightmare to lovers of terror across nations.


Be sure to catch this visceral ride through nightmares. Experience *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to survive these chilling revelations about the psyche.


For previews, extra content, and reveals from those who lived it, follow @YoungCursedOfficial across your socials and visit the movie’s homepage.





Today’s horror sea change: calendar year 2025 U.S. rollouts fuses archetypal-possession themes, independent shockers, and legacy-brand quakes

From last-stand terror grounded in primordial scripture and extending to brand-name continuations set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 stands to become the most variegated together with carefully orchestrated year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Major studios stabilize the year with established lines, while digital services prime the fall with emerging auteurs in concert with ancient terrors. On the independent axis, independent banners is surfing the carry of a record-setting 2024 festival season. Given Halloween is the centerpiece, the other windows are mapped with care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, notably this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are eager, studios are surgical, thus 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Playbook and Mini-Major Tactics: Premium genre swings back

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 deepens the push.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with a big gambit: a reinterpreted Wolf Man, eschewing a mist-shrouded old-world European town, but a sharp contemporary setting. Steered by Leigh Whannell featuring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. landing in mid January, it joins a broader aim to occupy winter’s quiet with elevated titles, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Led by Eli Craig anchored by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it plays as blood lacquered Americana with satire under the paint. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. Festival whispers say it is sharp.

As summer eases, the Warner lot releases the last chapter inside its trusty horror universe: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Even if the pattern is recognizable, Chaves seems to angle for a plaintive, inward final note. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Derrickson returns to the helm, and the hallmarks that turned the first into a sleeper reappear: old school creep, trauma centered writing, with ghostly inner logic. Here the stakes rise, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a picture that draws on name power. The sequel leans deeper into its lore, adds to the animatronic nightmare bench, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It lands in December, anchoring horror’s winter tail.

Streamer Exclusives: Lean budgets, heavy bite

As theatricals lean on brands and continuations, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it will likely trigger thread wars and analysis videos, recalling Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a close quarters body horror study featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Confined to a lonely rental when a vacation turns, the script studies love with jealousy with self rejection turning into decay. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s vintage vampire folk yarn headlined by Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it feels like There Will Be Blood fused with Let the Right One In. The project looks at American religious trauma under a supernatural allegory. Trial screenings frame it as a high chatter SVOD arrival.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all work grief and disappearance and identity, choosing meaning over noise.

The Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. Written and helmed 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. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Resisting the exorcism template of Catholic ceremony and Latin chant, this one reaches back to something older, something darker. Lilith comes not via liturgy, but from trauma, quiet, and human brittleness. The shift to interior possession, not exterior conjuring, flips expectation and aligns Young & Cursed with an expanding wave, intimate character portraits wearing genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It reads as sharp positioning. No heavy handed lore. No brand fatigue. Pure psyche terror, contained and taut, sized for the binge then exhale flow of digital viewers. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF operate as greenhouses for horror six to twelve months down the line. They serve less as display cases, more as runways.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, a folkloric revenge thriller steeped in Aztec lore, is expected to close the fest with fire.

Midnight offerings such as If I Had Legs I’d Kick You surge on execution beyond the hook. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW gave air to Clown in a Cornfield and to microbudget hauntings courting buyers. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Strategy at festivals now equals branding as well as discovery. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Franchise Horror: Returns, Restarts, and Fresh Angles

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, landing in July, re ups the 90s brand with a fresh lead and retro tone. In contrast to earlier chapters, it skews camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 hits late June, with a plan to deepen its techno horror mythos via new characters and AI terrors. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, led by Francis Lawrence, it is a brutal dystopian allegory wrapped in survival horror, a kids walking until they die competition with no real winners. With sharp marketing, it could translate to The Hunger Games for horror adults.

Additionally, reboots and sequels, among them Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, populate the months, with timing held for strategy or acquisitions.

Dials to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror does more than scare, it reminds that evil predates us.

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

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
The days of disposable horror filler on digital platforms are over. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Laurels convert to leverage
Festival laurels are no longer ornamental, they are leverage for theatrical release, premium placement, and media cycles. Without a festival strategy in 2025, a horror film risks vanishing.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios release horror theatrically only when they believe in overperformance or sequel trees. Most others angle PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Outlook: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons stacked into September and October, fall saturates. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December is anchored by Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but do not rule out a surprise streamer drop in the final weeks. With mythic energy high, a late creature or exorcism entry could pop.

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 aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The upcoming chiller season: returning titles, non-franchise titles, paired with A brimming Calendar Built For goosebumps

Dek: The emerging horror calendar clusters from the jump with a January cluster, and then spreads through summer corridors, and continuing into the year-end corridor, blending marquee clout, inventive spins, and savvy release strategy. Studio marketers and platforms are committing to right-sized spends, big-screen-first runs, and shareable marketing that shape horror entries into culture-wide discussion.

Horror momentum into 2026

Horror has solidified as the consistent release in distribution calendars, a vertical that can expand when it catches and still limit the risk when it underperforms. After the 2023 year signaled to studio brass that cost-conscious pictures can dominate the discourse, 2024 continued the surge with filmmaker-forward plays and surprise hits. The tailwind rolled into the 2025 frame, where revivals and awards-minded projects proved there is room for multiple flavors, from franchise continuations to filmmaker-driven originals that travel well. The net effect for the 2026 slate is a run that shows rare alignment across the market, with purposeful groupings, a blend of brand names and novel angles, and a renewed focus on theater exclusivity that amplify PVOD and streaming on premium digital and SVOD.

Buyers contend the horror lane now operates like a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can open on most weekends, generate a simple premise for promo reels and shorts, and exceed norms with demo groups that appear on first-look nights and stay strong through the subsequent weekend if the entry works. Emerging from a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 configuration telegraphs trust in that setup. The year rolls out with a thick January band, then turns to spring and early summer for contrast, while holding room for a October build that pushes into holiday-adjacent weekends and into November. The map also underscores the increasing integration of indie distributors and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, fuel WOM, and move wide at the sweet spot.

A parallel macro theme is IP cultivation across interlocking continuities and veteran brands. Distribution groups are not just rolling another next film. They are moving to present threaded continuity with a marquee sheen, whether that is a graphic identity that telegraphs a tonal shift or a talent selection that anchors a upcoming film to a vintage era. At the meanwhile, the helmers behind the marquee originals are celebrating material texture, in-camera effects and concrete locations. That mix provides the 2026 slate a solid mix of trust and freshness, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Studios and mini-majors: what the big players are doing

Paramount fires first with two spotlight titles that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the spine, marketing it as both a relay and a rootsy character-focused installment. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the artistic posture conveys a legacy-leaning treatment without recycling the last two entries’ core arc for the Carpenter sisters. Expect a marketing push leaning on signature symbols, early character teases, and a two-beat trailer plan slated for late fall. Distribution is theatrical through 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 back on screen, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative voices for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will play up. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will drive general-audience talk through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format fitting quick reframes to whatever tops horror talk that spring.

Universal has three differentiated plays. SOULM8TE launches January 9, 2026, a tech-forward branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The conceit is clean, somber, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man installs an machine companion that unfolds into a deadly partner. The date lines it up at the front of a great post to read packed window, with the studio’s marketing likely to mirror off-kilter promo beats and quick hits that mixes love and anxiety.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title drop to become an PR pop closer to the debut look. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Completing the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele titles are treated as director events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later trailer push that establish tone without plot reveals the concept. The late-month date offers Universal room to fill pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has demonstrated that a in-your-face, practical-first approach can feel deluxe on a mid-range budget. Look for a red-band summer horror surge that pushes worldwide reach, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is particularly deep. The studio rolls out two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film opens August 21, 2026, maintaining a steady supernatural brand in motion while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan sets it in late summer, where the brand has long performed.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil reboots in what Sony is marketing as a new foundation 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 focus to serve both core fans and fresh viewers. The fall slot creates runway for Sony to build promo materials around lore, and creature effects, elements that can increase deluxe auditorium demand and fan events.

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 advances the filmmaker’s run of period horror driven by careful craft and archaic language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a clear message in the auteur as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is strong.

Platform lanes and windowing

Platform strategies for 2026 run on proven patterns. Universal’s horror titles land on copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a sequence that optimizes both first-week urgency and trial spikes in the tail. Prime Video combines licensed content with world buys and qualifying theatrical engagements when the data signals it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in catalog engagement, using well-timed internal promotions, Halloween hubs, and collection rows to maximize the tail on the horror cume. Netflix plays opportunist about original films and festival wins, scheduling horror entries on shorter runways and eventizing go-lives with compressed campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a staged of targeted cinema placements and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pivoting to direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a situational basis. The platform has shown appetite to take on select projects with recognized filmmakers or marquee packages, then give them a qualifying theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards-qualifying thresholds or to gain imprimatur before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for retention when the genre conversation spikes.

Specialized lanes

Cineverse is mapping a 2026 sequence 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 angle is clear: the same brooding, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a genre cult touchstone, elevated for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn frame, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has flagged a theatrical-first plan for Legacy, an optimistic indicator for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late stretch.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through festivals in the fall if the cut is ready, then relying on the Christmas window to go wider. That positioning has been successful for filmmaker-first horror with wider appeal. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines commonly finalize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A fair assumption is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception encourages. Look for an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that bows at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as a pair, using targeted theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subs.

Franchises versus originals

By weight, 2026 is weighted toward the franchise column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit marquee value. The caveat, as ever, is brand wear. The pragmatic answer is to present each entry as a fresh tone. Paramount is spotlighting character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a clean restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is maximizing a European tilt from a emerging director. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Non-franchise titles and visionary-led titles supply get redirected here the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be sold as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a island-set survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on a known brand, the bundle is grounded enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent comps announce the template. In 2023, a big-screen-first plan that kept clean windows did not stop a simultaneous release test from thriving when the brand was robust. In 2024, director-craft horror over-performed in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel fresh when they alter lens and grow scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The back-to-back plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, permits marketing to interlace chapters through cast and motif and to continue assets in field without long gaps.

Technique and craft currents

The craft rooms my review here behind the 2026 slate hint at a continued move toward real, location-led craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that aligns with the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film completed filming and is set for its April 17, 2026 date. Promo should that highlights tone and tension rather than bombast, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling smart budget discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has called Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and medieval diction, a combination that can make for textured sound and a icy, primal tone on the big screen. Focus will likely preview this aesthetic in deep-dive features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a tone piece that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is designed for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that lands overseas in red-band trailers and produces shareable reaction videos from early screenings. Scream 7 offers a self-aware reset that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will thrive or struggle on monster work and world-building, which are ideal for con floor moments and staggered reveals. Insidious tends to be a sound-mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel definitive. Look for trailers that emphasize disciplined sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that benefit on big speakers.

From winter to holidays

January is crowded. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month finishes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is legit, but the range of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth sustains.

Winter into spring set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 bows February 27 with brand energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now hosts 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 sharpens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 unleashes hard-R intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can succeed next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest serves older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have shuffled through big rooms.

Shoulder season into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously excelled. Resident Evil lands after September 18, a early fall window that still ties into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event books October 23 and will engross cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely driven by a minimalist tease strategy and limited plot reveals that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can stand up at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. The distributor has done this before, platforming carefully, then pressing critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film clicks critically, the studio can broaden in the first week of 2027 while riding holiday turnout and card redemption.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production advances. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative revisits the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots reset with a contemporary edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A mourning man’s virtual companion shifts into something murderously loving. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished 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 grows the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: revived prestige horror saga’s second leg.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man finds his way back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to be swallowed by a shifting reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: mood-led adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss work to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic upends and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to chill, based on Cronin’s physical craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. 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 home-set haunting premise that pipes the unease through a minor’s volatile point of view. Rating: not yet rated. Production: finished. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural mood piece.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A genre lampoon that lampoons in-vogue horror tropes and true crime fascinations. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: filming in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: undisclosed. Logline: The Further stirs again, with a another family bound to residual nightmares. Rating: pending. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: reliable supernatural IP in a date that favors the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: pending. Logline: A re-seeded launch designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in survival-first horror over action pyrotechnics. Rating: pending. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: intentionally withheld. Rating: to be announced. Production: advancing. Positioning: teaser-forward filmmaker happening.

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 elemental dread. Rating: pending. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: holiday prestige play with craft awards upside.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a standard theatrical approach before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that paused or migrated in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can slot in fast because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale effects sequences, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more rigorous about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming landings. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine social-ready stingers from test screenings, managed scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that power influencer posts. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

A fourth factor is programming math. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, providing runway for genre entries that can capture a weekend or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will jostle across five weekends, which allows chatter to build title by title. Summer provides the other window. The parody aligns with early family and action waves, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of 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 wide PLF deployment 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 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 press those advantages. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout 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. Count on a vigorous PVOD arc overall, 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 pattern and spread. January is a smorgasbord, February delivers a legacy slasher, April resurrects a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a chilly, literate nightmare. That is how you keep the discourse going and the seats filled without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can gain momentum, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, lean footprints, 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 grain, soundscape, and visuals that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

2026 Is Well Positioned

Release dates move. Ratings change. Casts refresh. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand gravity where needed, original vision where it matters, 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 near-deadline boutique buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, edit tight trailers, hold the mystery, and let the chills sell the seats.