Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed revives primeval horror, a nerve shredding chiller, launching October 2025 across major platforms

This haunting unearthly terror film from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient entity when unfamiliar people become conduits in a cursed maze. Debuting on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, the YouTube platform, Google Play Movies & TV, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – gear up for *Young & Cursed*, a nerve-wracking episode of continuance and mythic evil that will revolutionize fear-driven cinema this Halloween season. Guided by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this unpredictable and cinematic tale follows five young adults who wake up locked in a cut-off cottage under the aggressive influence of Kyra, a young woman inhabited by a timeless sacrosanct terror. Anticipate to be drawn in by a cinematic venture that fuses bone-deep fear with legendary tales, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a historical concept in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that concept is reversed when the beings no longer come from an outside force, but rather within themselves. This marks the shadowy facet of the group. The result is a bone-chilling mental war where the narrative becomes a constant conflict between innocence and sin.


In a barren forest, five figures find themselves sealed under the evil control and overtake of a unknown female presence. As the group becomes helpless to reject her rule, cut off and chased by unknowns unfathomable, they are compelled to face their deepest fears while the time coldly moves toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread intensifies and relationships disintegrate, requiring each figure to doubt their essence and the principle of personal agency itself. The risk mount with every tick, delivering a cinematic nightmare that merges supernatural terror with deep insecurity.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my vision was to extract raw dread, an malevolence from ancient eras, manifesting in human fragility, and examining a curse that threatens selfhood when will is shattered.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Transforming into Kyra meant evoking something rooted in terror. She is blind until the curse activates, and that metamorphosis is haunting because it is so raw.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be brought for streaming beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—delivering watchers from coast to coast can face this horror showcase.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, posted to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its initial teaser, which has gathered over a viral response.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has stated that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, giving access to the movie to thrill-seekers globally.


Avoid skipping this haunted trip into the unknown. Tune into *Young & Cursed* this horror drop to acknowledge these terrifying truths about mankind.


For teasers, production insights, and reveals from the creators, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across your socials and visit youngandcursed.com.





Modern horror’s Turning Point: calendar year 2025 U.S. Slate Mixes old-world possession, indie terrors, together with legacy-brand quakes

Ranging from grit-forward survival fare suffused with legendary theology all the way to canon extensions and focused festival visions, 2025 looks like the most stratified combined with strategic year in a decade.

The 2025 horror calendar is more than crowded, it is calculated. Top studios stabilize the year with familiar IP, at the same time OTT services saturate the fall with debut heat plus primordial unease. Meanwhile, festival-forward creators is propelled by the carry of 2024’s record festival wave. As Halloween stays the prime week, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The early fall corridor has become the proving ground, and now, strategies include January, spring, and mid-summer. The audience is primed, studios are calculated, which means 2025 could be the most carefully plotted year to date.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Prestige terror resurfaces

The studio class is engaged. If 2024 set the base, 2025 compounds the move.

Universal’s distribution arm starts the year with a statement play: a refreshed Wolf Man, avoiding the standard nineteenth century European backdrop, but a crisp modern milieu. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The turn is more than creature work, it is about marriage, parenthood, and humanity. arriving mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reworked as a minimalist shock machine. Eli Craig directs including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Under the guise, it interrogates township panic, generational breaks, and mob rule. Initial fest notes point to real bite.

As summer eases, Warner’s schedule drops the final chapter of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Farmiga and Wilson return as the Warrens, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. While the template is known, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

Next is The Black Phone 2. Set early then moved to October, a confidence tell. Derrickson re engages, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: 70s style chill, trauma foregrounded, plus otherworld rules that chill. This pass pushes higher, by expanding the “grabber” backstory and grief across bloodlines.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The follow up digs further into canon, broadens the animatronic terror cast, reaching teens and game grownups. It books December, pinning the winter close.

Streaming Firsts: Slim budgets, major punch

As theatrical skews franchise first, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold-case woven horror suite splicing three ages joined by a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing including Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

Keeping things close quarters is Together, a sealed box body horror arc featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Situated in an out of the way rental during a failed escape, the movie follows love and envy and self denial into corporeal breakdown. It toggles from love to slime, a staged slide into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

Also notable is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend featuring Michael B. Jordan. Rendered in sepia depth and layered biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The narrative analyzes American religious trauma through a ghostly allegory. Early test screens tag it as a top talked streaming debut.

A handful of other streaming indies hover in the wings: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession From Within: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the piece tracks five strangers awakening in a remote wilds cabin, under Kyra’s sway, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The menace is mind forward, supercharged by primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this film taps something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home position the film as a Halloween counter to sequel heavy theatricals and monster revivals. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No continuity burden. Straight psychological chill, boxed and tight, aimed at the binge, pause, and pulse habits of streamers. In a year crowded with spectacle, Young & Cursed may stand out by going quiet, then screaming.

From Festivals to Market

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain the hothouse where next season’s horror grows. They feel like launchpads now, not just showcases.

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

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. The A24 fueled satire of toxic fandom in a con lockdown has breakout energy.

SXSW hosted Clown in a Cornfield and sweetened the pot for microbudget haunts. Sundance tends to present grief infused elevated horror and likely will, as Tribeca’s genre wing angles urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. Laurels now light the fuse, they do not just adorn.

Series Horror: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Rather than prior modes, it goes camp and prom night melodrama. Expect tiaras, corn syrup blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 bows late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The debut’s viral plus streaming heat gives Universal reason to press the bet.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, Directed by Francis Lawrence, it plays as a savage dystopian parable housed in survival horror, a walk to death contest without winners. Marketed correctly, it could be 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.

What to Watch

Mythic Horror Is Mainstream
Lilith in Young & Cursed and Aztec curses in Whistle point to ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body horror comes roaring back
Entries like Together, Weapons, and Keeper shift back to flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation function as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Churn filler is losing ground on platforms. Streamers back real writing, real filmmakers, and genuine marketing. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Laurels convert to leverage
Laurels move markets, opening release doors and coverage arcs. In 2025, a horror film lacking festival plan may fade.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

Young & Cursed plus The Conjuring: Last Rites plus The Black Phone 2 plus Weapons, all in September and October, makes for a saturated fall. Indies like Bone Lake and Keeper will scrap for air. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

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 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The aim is not another Get Out chase, it is durable horror beyond gross.



The forthcoming 2026 scare year to come: returning titles, filmmaker-first projects, And A jammed Calendar designed for goosebumps

Dek The arriving scare slate packs immediately with a January traffic jam, following that extends through peak season, and well into the year-end corridor, blending series momentum, original angles, and strategic calendar placement. Studios with streamers are embracing mid-range economics, box-office-first windows, and buzz-forward plans that elevate horror entries into mainstream chatter.

Horror momentum into 2026

The horror marketplace has proven to be the bankable lever in studio slates, a genre that can lift when it connects and still mitigate the drawdown when it stumbles. After the 2023 year reconfirmed for leaders that mid-range scare machines can drive mainstream conversation, 2024 kept energy high with visionary-driven titles and stealth successes. The momentum translated to the 2025 frame, where reboots and prestige plays underscored there is room for several lanes, from sequel tracks to non-IP projects that translate worldwide. The net effect for 2026 is a schedule that looks unusually coordinated across studios, with purposeful groupings, a harmony of legacy names and untested plays, and a reinvigorated eye on release windows that feed downstream value on PVOD and home streaming.

Distribution heads claim the horror lane now functions as a schedule utility on the release plan. Horror can premiere on most weekends, deliver a simple premise for ad units and social clips, and lead with viewers that respond on advance nights and maintain momentum through the follow-up frame if the feature lands. Exiting a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 setup reflects faith in that setup. The slate commences with a loaded January corridor, then targets spring into early summer for counterprogramming, while making space for a autumn push that connects to the Halloween frame and past Halloween. The arrangement also shows the deeper integration of indie arms and SVOD players that can launch in limited release, spark evangelism, and widen at the sweet spot.

An added macro current is series management across interlocking continuities and established properties. The studios are not just releasing another chapter. They are working to present continuity with a occasion, whether that is a brandmark that broadcasts a fresh attitude or a casting pivot that bridges a next entry to a classic era. At the meanwhile, the directors behind the high-profile originals are doubling down on on-set craft, in-camera effects and place-driven backdrops. That convergence delivers the 2026 slate a strong blend of recognition and newness, which is the formula for international play.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount establishes early momentum with two front-of-slate moves that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director seat and Neve Campbell back at the heart, framing it as both a passing of the torch and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. Filming is in progress in Atlanta, and the creative posture announces a nostalgia-forward treatment without retreading the last two entries’ family thread. Count on a promo wave stacked with classic imagery, first images of characters, and a trailer cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical via Paramount.

Paramount also reboots a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in creative roles for the first time since the early 2000s, a headline the campaign will play up. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will generate large awareness through meme-ready spots, with the horror spoof format supporting quick turns to whatever drives the discourse that spring.

Universal has three distinct bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is tight, heartbroken, and high-concept: a grieving man activates an artificial companion that becomes a murderous partner. The date slots it at the front of a front-loaded month, with the studio’s marketing likely to echo strange in-person beats and bite-size content that interlaces companionship and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely read as the feature developed under temporary titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a title reveal to become an fan moment closer to the first look. The timing stakes a claim in early May while larger tentpoles own different weekends.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has made his own before. Peele’s pictures are positioned as signature events, with a teaser with minimal detail and a later creative that convey vibe without spoilers the concept. The late-month date gives Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then work the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, collaborates with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček helms, with Souheila Yacoub fronting. The franchise has made clear that a gnarly, physical-effects centered aesthetic can feel cinematic on a lean spend. Position this as a hard-R summer horror shot that leans into foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most overseas territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio launches two series moves in the back half. An untitled Insidious film debuts August 21, 2026, extending a dependable supernatural brand in play while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has changed the date on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has shown strength.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what the studio is marketing as a clean-slate approach 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 mission to serve both diehards and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and monster craft, elements that can lift IMAX and PLF uptake and fan-culture participation.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, places a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film follows the filmmaker’s run of period horror grounded in meticulous craft and period speech, this time driven by werewolf stories. Focus has already claimed the date for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty play that can grow wide if early reception is favorable.

Streaming windows and tactics

Platform windowing in 2026 run on well-known grooves. Universal’s releases head to copyright after a cinema and premium rental phase, a stair-step that optimizes both FOMO and sign-up spikes in the post-theatrical. Prime Video stitches together acquired titles with global originals and small theatrical windows when the data backs it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in catalog engagement, using timely promos, October hubs, and collection rows to keep attention on the 2026 genre total. Netflix stays nimble about original films and festival deals, slotting horror entries closer to drop and staging as events debuts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, exploits a staged of precision releases and prompt platform moves that turns word of mouth into paid trials. That will prove important for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ adopts case-by-case posture for horror on a situational basis. The platform has shown a willingness to purchase select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to generate social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a important input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation peaks.

Boutique label prospects

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 slate with two brand plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is tight: the same mist-blanketed, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, retooled for modern sonics and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors looking for R-rated counterplay in the back half.

Focus will work the director lane with Werwulf, stewarding the film through festival season if the cut is ready, then leveraging the December frame to open out. That positioning has served the company well for filmmaker-first horror with audience crossover. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not posted many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A likely scenario is a series of late-summer and fall platformers that can break out if reception merits. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that screens at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work as partners, using limited runs to jump-start evangelism that fuels their subs.

Brands and originals

By volume, 2026 favors the recognizable IP side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all activate franchise value. The trade-off, as ever, is overexposure. The near-term solution is to present each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is centering character-first legacy in Scream 7, Sony is signaling a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a ascendant talent. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be branded as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, casts Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s playful menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an uncompromising tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the assembly is assuring enough to drive advance ticketing and first-night audiences.

Comparable trends from recent years announce the logic. In 2023, a exclusive window model that kept streaming intact did not deter a day-date move from delivering when the brand was strong. In 2024, director-craft horror hit big in PLF. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they change perspective and widen scale. 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 back-to-back plan, with chapters filmed in sequence, enables marketing to tie installments through personae and themes and to continue assets in field without lulls.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The filmmaking conversations behind this slate point to a continued tilt toward in-camera, locale-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not play like any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the practical-craft ethos he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. Look for a campaign that underscores tone and tension rather than theme-park spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership backing cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most chilling project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for layered sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely tease this aesthetic in craft journalism and department features before rolling out a tease that centers atmosphere over story, a move that has clicked for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is tuned for gristle and gore, a signature of the series that connects worldwide in red-band trailers and spurs shareable screening reactions from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta reframe that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will win or lose on monster realization and design, which align with fan-con activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel definitive. Look for trailers that underscore hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

Release calendar overview

January is crowded. 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 foggy reset amid larger brand plays. The month ends with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival shocker from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is formidable, but the range of tones opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth holds.

February through May prepare summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 hits February 27 with legacy heat. In April, The Mummy resurrects a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now supports big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 leads into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents severe intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can connect next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have moved through premium slots.

August into fall leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously landed. Resident Evil arrives after September 18, a bridge slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film occupies October 23 and will command cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely paired with a opaque tease strategy and limited information drops that put concept first.

Prestige-horror at year-end. Werwulf on December 25 is a signal that genre can compete at Christmas when packaged as director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to ride the cycle into January. If the film earns with critics, the studio can add screens in the first week of 2027 while enjoying holiday hold and gift-card redemption.

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to face a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s founding notes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: roots-first with a today edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A devastated man’s intelligent companion becomes something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Photography complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: AI chiller with a human heart.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Sony, January 16, 2026)
Director: Nia DaCosta. Writer: Alex Garland. Top cast: Cillian Murphy, Jack O’Connell, and additional ensemble tied to a new antagonist faction. Logline: The second chapter in a trilogy opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult hardens in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed consecutively 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 collide with a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Done with U.S. run set. Positioning: tone-first game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her severe boss try to survive on a far-flung island as the power balance flips and dread encroaches. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-forward survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles in the vault in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to nightmare, anchored by Cronin’s practical craft and rising dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A in-home haunting premise that manipulates the horror of a child’s tricky point of view. Rating: rating pending. Production: picture-locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven supernatural thriller.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively again. Logline: {A comic send-up that needles hot-button genre motifs and true-crime buzz. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: fall 2025 shoot penciled in. 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 bursts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: TBA. Production: production in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-R franchise continuation built for premium large format.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a another family anchored to ancient dread. Rating: not yet rated. Production: gearing up for summer filming with late-summer bow. Positioning: bankable spirit-world IP in a proven lane.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: to be disclosed. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A restart designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on survival-first horror over pyrotechnic spectacle. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: dev phase with date secured. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBD. Logline: Kept under wraps by design. Rating: forthcoming. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker-led event with teaser rollout.

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 elemental dread. Rating: forthcoming. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026, why now

Three grounded forces frame this lineup. First, production that bottlenecked or shuffled in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can occupy those holes swiftly because scripts often demand fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and tighter schedules. 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 outperformed straight-to-streaming drops. Third, social buzz converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will lean on shareable moments from test screenings, managed scare clips timed to Thursday night previews, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it converts.

Calendar math also matters. Family and cape-heavy lanes thin out in early 2026, freeing space for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or operate as the older-skew option. January is the prime example. Four varied shades of horror will share space across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

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 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 underdog chase continues in Q1, where modest-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 quiet 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. 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.

From viewer POV, the year

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers flow and breadth. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reawakens a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July leans brutal, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a wintry, literate nightmare. That is how you sustain heat and footfall without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can stack through the year, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers steady Thursday pops, tight deployments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least see here three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing tactility, audio design, and cinematography 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

Slots move. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is defined. There is recognizable IP where it plays, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios meet the timing for 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 closing-window arthouse pickup join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut sharp trailers, keep secrets, and let the gasps sell the seats.