Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed confronts ancient terror, a hair raising feature, launching October 2025 across major platforms

A hair-raising unearthly horror tale from creator / movie maker Andrew Chiaramonte, awakening an archaic horror when passersby become conduits in a fiendish contest. Airings begin this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, video-sharing site YouTube, Google’s digital store, Apple’s iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – Brace yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a unnerving portrayal of perseverance and primeval wickedness that will resculpt the horror genre this October. Brought to life by rising creative mind Andrew Chiaramonte, this claustrophobic and eerie suspense flick follows five strangers who come to stuck in a far-off shelter under the ominous rule of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a 2,000-year-old sacrosanct terror. Get ready to be hooked by a screen-based event that melds gut-punch terror with ancient myths, debuting on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on October 2, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a long-standing theme in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is flipped when the presences no longer originate externally, but rather inside their minds. This mirrors the darkest corner of all involved. The result is a psychologically brutal psychological battle where the drama becomes a unforgiving struggle between virtue and vice.


In a abandoned terrain, five souls find themselves imprisoned under the dark influence and curse of a haunted character. As the group becomes submissive to deny her control, disconnected and tormented by forces impossible to understand, they are required to acknowledge their inner horrors while the countdown unforgivingly pushes forward toward their expiration.


In *Young & Cursed*, delusion escalates and ties break, forcing each character to doubt their identity and the notion of volition itself. The intensity rise with every instant, delivering a nerve-wracking journey that intertwines otherworldly panic with mental instability.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my goal was to explore ancestral fear, an spirit from ancient eras, working through our weaknesses, and confronting a entity that questions who we are when we lose control.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Taking on the role of Kyra called for internalizing something beneath mortal despair. She is blind until the curse activates, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so raw.”

Rollout & Launch

*Young & Cursed* will be streamed for on-demand beginning October 2, 2025, on Prime Video, Google’s video hub, Google Play, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—guaranteeing viewers internationally can experience this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just rolled out a new second trailer for *Young & Cursed*, up to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a second look to its initial teaser, which has gathered over 100K plays.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be delivered to global audiences, exporting the fear to fans of fear everywhere.


Mark your calendar for this mind-warping trip into the unknown. Enter *Young & Cursed* this launch day to survive these evil-rooted truths about mankind.


For sneak peeks, special features, and updates directly from production, follow @YoungAndCursed across Facebook and TikTok and visit our film’s homepage.





American horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 season domestic schedule blends ancient-possession motifs, festival-born jolts, paired with franchise surges

Kicking off with survival horror suffused with ancient scripture and extending to series comebacks as well as incisive indie visions, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured combined with strategic year in recent memory.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. major banners are anchoring the year by way of signature titles, while subscription platforms pack the fall with discovery plays set against legend-coded dread. Meanwhile, festival-forward creators is fueled by the momentum from a record 2024 festival run. Because Halloween continues as the prize window, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, and in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Crowds are ready, studios are calculated, thus 2025 could stand as the most orchestrated year.

Studio and Mini-Major Moves: The Return of Prestige Fear

No one at the top is standing still. If 2024 primed the reset, 2025 presses the advantage.

the Universal camp leads off the quarter with an audacious swing: a refashioned Wolf Man, not returning to the Gothic European hamlet, inside today’s landscape. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell anchored by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. timed for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

As spring rolls in, Clown in a Cornfield bows, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Led by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it functions as blood smeared American gothic with snark. Under the makeup, it dissects provincial panic, age gap tensions, and mob verdicts. Initial heat flags it as potent.

As summer wanes, Warner’s schedule delivers the closing chapter from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the installment promises emotional closure while taking on one of the duo’s most infamous real life cases. Despite a known recipe, Michael Chaves is rumored to steer toward a somber, reflective register for the close. It goes early September, easing the path before October flood.

The Black Phone 2 follows. First targeted at early summer, the move into October reads bullish. Scott Derrickson returns, and the DNA that clicked last time remains: throwback unease, trauma as narrative engine, plus otherworld rules that chill. The bar is raised this go, through a thicker read on the “grabber” legend and generational ache.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a release that travels on brand alone. The continuation widens the legend, builds out the animatronic fear crew, with a bullseye on teens and thirty something nostalgics. It books December, buttoning the final window.

Digital Originals: Low budgets, big teeth

While cinemas swing on series strength, platforms are embracing risk, and engagement climbs.

A flagship risky title is Weapons, a cold case horror anthology stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. With Zach Cregger directing fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the release pairs unease with narrative heft. Opening theatrically late summer ahead of fall SVOD, it is poised to inspire think pieces and forums, echoing Barbarian.

Playing chamber scale is Together, a body horror duet featuring Alison Brie opposite Dave Franco. Located in a secluded rental as a trip collapses, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It reads tender, repulsive, and intensely uneasy, a three act churn into codependent hell. Absent a posted platform date, it looks like a certain fall stream.

Then there is Sinners, a 1930s period vampire folk story anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it plays like There Will Be Blood meets Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. First test passes flag it as highly discussable at debut.

Several other streaming indies are quietly waiting 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

Rolling out October 2 across streaming, Young & Cursed plays as a rare fusion, spare in setting, sweeping in lore. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the release shadows five strangers waking in a hidden woods cabin, bound to 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. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this one digs into something older, something darker. Lilith bypasses ritual, she awakens from trauma, repression, and human fragility. Turning possession inward syncs Young & Cursed to the trend of character led dramas draped in genre.

The Halloween window on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home frames the film as counter to sequel saturation and creature revivals. It is a clever angle. No overstuffed canon. No brand fatigue. Only psychological menace, compressed and taut, tuned to binge and gasp cycles online. Amid spectacle, Young & Cursed can distinguish itself by whispering, then howling.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF function as launch beds for the coming year’s horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

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

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance forecasts grief bent elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

In 2025, festival strategy is less about discovery, more about branding. A Fantastic Fest or TIFF badge is phase one marketing, not a coda.

Legacy Lines: Sequels, Reboots, and Reinvention

Legacy IP arrives sturdier and more intentional this cycle.

Fear Street: Prom Queen returns in July, reviving the 90s franchise with new lead and retro color. Versus earlier beats, it favors camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 posts late June, aiming to expand its techno horror mythology with new characters and new AI generated terrors. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, steered by Francis Lawrence, it functions as a harsh dystopian fable encased in survival horror, a children’s march that ends in death. With the right pitch, it could function as The Hunger Games for grown horror audiences.

Across the board, reboots and sequels such as Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda fill gaps, most looking for tactical dates or fast pickups.

Dials to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed, and with Aztec curses in Whistle, horror taps ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror reaches past fear, it states evil is old.

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

Streaming exclusives sharpen their bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. Streamers deploy capital toward scripts, directors, and paid reach. Releases like Weapons and Sinners are elevated to events, not just content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Festival status acts as leverage for exhibition, placement, and publicity. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical lanes are trust falls
Theater slots go to likely overachievers or franchise starters. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn Overload and the Winter Wildcard

With Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons all stacked across September and October, the fall is downright saturated. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Do not be surprised if one or two move to early 2026 or switch platforms.

With Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 in December, a stealth streamer drop might pop near year end. Given the dark, mythic lean of the year’s big films, a final creature feature or exorcism slot is open.

The success of horror in 2025 hinges less on a single title and more on how a diverse slate reaches a scattered, segmented audience. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The oncoming fright release year: follow-ups, filmmaker-first projects, paired with A jammed Calendar optimized for jolts

Dek The incoming terror calendar loads from the jump with a January cluster, thereafter stretches through peak season, and deep into the festive period, weaving series momentum, novel approaches, and savvy counter-scheduling. Studios and platforms are betting on right-sized spends, theatrical leads, and shareable marketing that pivot horror entries into four-quadrant talking points.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

This category has grown into the dependable lever in studio lineups, a segment that can expand when it resonates and still hedge the drag when it stumbles. After the 2023 year re-taught strategy teams that disciplined-budget scare machines can lead the national conversation, 2024 held pace with visionary-driven titles and slow-burn breakouts. The run flowed into the 2025 frame, where returns and elevated films highlighted there is demand for varied styles, from ongoing IP entries to one-and-done originals that play globally. The combined impact for the 2026 slate is a schedule that appears tightly organized across the market, with defined corridors, a mix of known properties and first-time concepts, and a recommitted stance on release windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium on-demand and platforms.

Schedulers say the horror lane now functions as a swing piece on the grid. The genre can premiere on open real estate, yield a easy sell for creative and short-form placements, and over-index with patrons that appear on Thursday previews and sustain through the sophomore frame if the release fires. Exiting a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 pattern telegraphs confidence in that approach. The slate starts with a crowded January lineup, then exploits spring through early summer for alternate plays, while clearing room for a autumn stretch that flows toward late October and past the holiday. The gridline also underscores the expanded integration of arthouse labels and OTT outlets that can grow from platform, stoke social talk, and expand at the strategic time.

A second macro trend is brand management across unified worlds and established properties. Studio teams are not just turning out another next film. They are aiming to frame connection with a headline quality, whether that is a art treatment that signals a new tone or a talent selection that ties a latest entry to a early run. At the parallel to that, the visionaries behind the most anticipated originals are championing physical effects work, special makeup and place-driven backdrops. That convergence gives the 2026 slate a smart balance of home base and invention, which is how horror tends to travel globally.

Inside the studio playbooks

Paramount opens strong with two prominent bets that cover both tonal poles. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the top job and Neve Campbell back at the lead, angling it as both a passing of the torch and a origin-leaning character-first story. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the creative posture conveys a nostalgia-forward campaign without rehashing the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Plan for a rollout driven by iconic art, first-look character reveals, and a promo sequence landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also relaunches a once-mighty spoof franchise with Scary Movie 6 on June 12, 2026, directed by Michael Tiddes. Anna Faris and Regina Hall are paired again, with the Wayans brothers involved as creative partners for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will lean on. As a summer relief option, this one will go after wide appeal through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format allowing quick pivots to whatever tops the conversation that spring.

Universal has three differentiated projects. SOULM8TE premieres January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is tight, soulful, and easily pitched: a grieving man brings home an artificial companion that grows into a dangerous lover. The date nudges it to the front of a competition-heavy month, with Universal’s marketing likely to reprise uncanny live moments and brief clips that fuses companionship and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio schedules an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under development titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The public calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which creates space for a public title to become an earned moment closer to the early tease. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles stack elsewhere.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. His entries are set up as auteur events, with a mystery-first teaser and a next wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The prime October weekend gives Universal room to dominate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then activate the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, teams with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček steers, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a flesh-and-blood, on-set effects led strategy can feel high-value on a tight budget. Position this as a blood-soaked summer horror jolt that maximizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most non-U.S. markets.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio places two franchise maneuvers in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, sustaining a evergreen supernatural brand alive while the spin-off branch builds quietly. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where Insidious has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-enters in what the studio is calling a from-the-ground-up reboot for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a foundational part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both franchise faithful and general audiences. The fall slot offers Sony space to build campaign pieces around universe detail, and practical creature work, elements that can lift format premiums and convention buzz.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, stakes a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains Eggers’ run of period horror rooted in rigorous craft and period language, this time set against lycan legends. Focus’s team has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a clear message in Eggers as a specialty this contact form play that can platform wide if early reception is supportive.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles head to copyright after a big-screen and PVOD window, a pacing that enhances both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the late-window. Prime Video combines acquired titles with global pickups and brief theater runs when the data supports it. Max and Hulu accent their strengths in library engagement, using timely promos, October hubs, and editorial rows to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix retains agility about first-party entries and festival grabs, locking in horror entries closer to launch and positioning as event drops rollouts with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, harnesses a dual-phase of limited theatrical footprints and short jumps to platform that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will matter for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to weigh horror on a bespoke basis. The platform has exhibited willingness to buy select projects with name filmmakers or star packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still pulls from the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for sustained usage when the genre conversation surges.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is structuring 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 setup is simple: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult item, modernized for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn slot, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has hinted a traditional cinema play for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the hard-edged series and for exhibitors hungry for R material in the back half.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, escorting the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then working the Christmas corridor to expand. That positioning has shown results for auteur horror with award possibilities. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not announced many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines typically coalesce after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a brace of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception warrants. Expect an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that plays Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in tandem, using small theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchise entries versus originals

By number, the 2026 slate leans toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit name recognition. The challenge, as ever, is staleness. The near-term solution is to pitch each entry as a recast vibe. Paramount is centering core character and DNA in Scream 7, Sony is promising a full reset for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a French sensibility from a ascendant talent. Those choices move the needle when the audience has so many options and social sentiment whipsaws.

Originals and auteur plays supply 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, sets Rachel McAdams in a stranded survival premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a tight, eerie tech hook. Werwulf anchors in period detail and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on a property, the deal build is familiar enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday-night crowds.

Recent comps frame the approach. In 2023, a exclusive window model that observed windows did not prevent a dual release from succeeding when the brand was sticky. In 2024, filmmaker-craft-led horror outperformed in large-format rooms. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga signaled that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they shift POV and raise the stakes. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The paired-chapter approach, with chapters shot back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to bridge entries through character and theme and to keep materials circulating without hiatuses.

Creative tendencies and craft

The production chatter behind the 2026 slate hint at a continued preference for physical, site-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that complements the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is on track for its April 17, 2026 date. Marketing will likely that elevates creep and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership enabling cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has talked about Werwulf as the grimmest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for enveloping sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely seed this aesthetic in long-lead press and craft features before rolling out a first look that trades on atmosphere over plot, a move that has performed 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 sells overseas in red-band trailers and generates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta recalibration that puts the original star at center. Resident Evil will live or die on creature execution and sets, which favor con floor moments and guarded reveals. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel definitive. Look for trailers that center pinpoint sound design, deep-bass stingers, and held silences that shine in top rooms.

Calendar cadence

January is heavy. 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 somber counterpoint amid heftier brand moves. The month closes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-horror from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is real, but the tonal variety carves a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth sticks.

Pre-summer months seed summer. Scream 7 arrives February 27 with heritage buzz. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once favored genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 feeds summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is playful and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 offers ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is coherent. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest delights older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still preps for Halloween marketing beats. Jordan Peele’s untitled film secures October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely reinforced by a slow-reveal plan and limited asset reveals that center concept over reveals.

December specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, staging carefully, then leaning on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to hold in chatter into January. If the film pleases critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift card usage.

Title briefs within the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting ongoing as production pushes forward. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative reconnects to the original film’s DNA. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: classic-DNA reset with a current angle.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A sorrowing man’s AI companion evolves into something fatal and romantic. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming finished for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech-horror with an emotional core.

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 broadens the canvas beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult ascends in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem with the first film. Positioning: prestige apocalypse continuation.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unstable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Complete with theatrical path. Positioning: gothic-game adaptation.

Send Help (20th Century Studios, January 30, 2026)
Director: Sam Raimi. Top cast: Rachel McAdams, Dylan O’Brien, Dennis Haysbert, Chris Pang. Logline: After a plane crash, an employee and her demanding boss scramble to survive on a isolated island as the pecking order flips 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 confidential in official materials. Logline: A from-today rework that returns the monster to fright, anchored by Cronin’s on-set craft and accumulating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: legendary monster re-up with auteur hand.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A home-set haunting tale that toys with the dread of a child’s unreliable interpretations. Rating: rating pending. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-crafted and star-led supernatural mood piece.

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 satirical comeback that needles contemporary horror memes and true-crime obsessions. Rating: not yet rated. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: wide-appeal summer alternative.

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 international twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: intense red-band chapter tailored to PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: unrevealed for now. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further opens again, with a new family bound to lingering terrors. Rating: TBD. Production: targeting a summer lensing window for late-summer release. Positioning: stalwart franchise piece in a friendly frame.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: unrevealed publicly. Top cast: TBD. Logline: A restart designed to re-engineer the franchise from the ground up, with an stress on survival-driven horror over action spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: developing against a fixed date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: to be announced. Logline: tightly guarded. Rating: pending. Production: moving forward. Positioning: director-branded event with teaser focus.

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 historical diction and primal menace. Rating: undetermined. Production: gearing up with December 25 frame. 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: timing TBD, fall window eyed.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces structure this lineup. First, production that paused or re-slotted in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can bridge those gaps quickly because scripts often call for fewer locales, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and leaner schedules. Second, studios have become more strategic about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently overdelivered vs. straight-to-streaming launches. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will capitalize on repeatable beats from test screenings, managed scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that generate creator assets. It is a repeatable playbook because it delivers.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, making room for genre entries that can control a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will share space across five weekends, which reduces inter-title cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The send-up tracks alongside early family and action traffic, then the hard-R entry can leverage a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Money matters, ratings, and surprise hits

Budgets remain in the sweet spot. Most of the films above will fit below the $40–$50 million line, with many far below. That allows for deep PLF penetration 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 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 sleeper overperformer 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. Look for a strong PVOD phase overall, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April revives a Universal monster, May and June provide a one-two spectral pairing 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 maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can sequence upward, using earlier releases to trailhead the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors favor the spacing. Horror delivers predictable Thursday surges, 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, soundcraft, and picture 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

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts rotate. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is IP strength where it matters, filmmaker vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios sense the cadence of 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, craft precise trailers, keep the secrets, and let the scares sell the seats.