Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed summons primeval malevolence, a spine tingling feature, launching October 2025 across leading streamers

This terrifying spectral suspense story from creator / helmer Andrew Chiaramonte, unbinding an timeless malevolence when guests become subjects in a hellish contest. Debuting this October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube streaming, Google Play Movies & TV, Apple iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango streaming.

L.A., CA (August 8, 2025) – be warned for *Young & Cursed*, a nightmarish episode of overcoming and ancient evil that will transform scare flicks this autumn. Visualized by rising horror auteur Andrew Chiaramonte, this tense and claustrophobic motion picture follows five people who find themselves stuck in a isolated lodge under the sinister sway of Kyra, a female lead possessed by a 2,000-year-old religious nightmare. Be prepared to be drawn in by a narrative spectacle that fuses raw fear with legendary tales, releasing on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Spiritual takeover has been a historical trope in genre filmmaking. In *Young & Cursed*, that pattern is twisted when the entities no longer come from a different plane, but rather inside them. This mirrors the haunting aspect of the protagonists. The result is a emotionally raw inner struggle where the emotions becomes a soul-crushing confrontation between virtue and vice.


In a remote no-man's-land, five teens find themselves confined under the ominous influence and control of a secretive spirit. As the youths becomes submissive to oppose her command, stranded and tracked by forces unfathomable, they are forced to stand before their darkest emotions while the time without pity strikes toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, mistrust deepens and partnerships dissolve, compelling each soul to evaluate their essence and the foundation of volition itself. The threat intensify with every instant, delivering a nightmarish journey that weaves together unearthly horror with inner turmoil.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to draw upon instinctual horror, an curse from ancient eras, filtering through human fragility, and examining a curse that redefines identity when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Becoming Kyra required summoning something darker than pain. She is oblivious until the control shifts, and that transformation is terrifying because it is so unshielded.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be available for digital release beginning this October 2, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango at Home—giving subscribers internationally can survive this fearful revelation.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just released a new trailer two for *Young & Cursed*, currently showing to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its intro video, which has pulled in over six-figure audience.


In addition to its North American premiere, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has confirmed that *Young & Cursed* will also be launched globally, taking the terror to horror fans worldwide.


Avoid skipping this mind-warping spiral into evil. Experience *Young & Cursed* this October the 2nd to face these ghostly lessons about existence.


For exclusive trailers, filmmaker commentary, and announcements straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACFilm across Instagram and Twitter and visit youngandcursed.com.





U.S. horror’s watershed moment: the 2025 season stateside slate interlaces Mythic Possession, independent shockers, in parallel with brand-name tremors

Spanning survivor-centric dread rooted in ancient scripture to installment follow-ups set beside surgical indie voices, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured in tandem with blueprinted year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar is not merely full, it is methodical. Top studios set cornerstones with known properties, even as premium streamers stack the fall with new perspectives and old-world menace. On the festival side, the artisan tier is riding the momentum from a top-tier 2024 festival cycle. Since Halloween is the prized date, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The September, October gauntlet has become standard, but this year, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are methodical, which means 2025 may end up the most intentional cycle yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Prestige fear returns

The top end is active. If 2024 reset the chessboard, 2025 compounds the move.

the Universal banner leads off the quarter with a bold swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, leaving behind the period European setting, within a sleek contemporary canvas. Shepherded by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The metamorphosis extends past flesh, into marriage, parenthood, and human hurt. landing in mid January, it supports the push to convert the winter lull using prestige plays, not leftovers.

By spring, Clown in a Cornfield premieres, a YA slasher translation rendered as pared-down fear. Directed by Eli Craig featuring turns by Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it is blood soaked Americana horror with a satirical streak. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

As summer wanes, the Warner lot bows the concluding entry from its bankable horror series: The Conjuring: Last Rites. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson again portray Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film signals catharsis as it engages a widely cited real case. Though the outline is tried, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It arrives early September, buying space before the October wave.

The Black Phone 2 steps in next. From early summer to October, a strong signal. Derrickson returns to the helm, and those signature textures resurface: period tinged dread, trauma as text, plus uncanny supernatural grammar. This pass pushes higher, with a deeper exploration into the “grabber” mythology and how grief haunts generations.

Finishing the tentpole list is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a movie that scarcely needs conventional ads. The return delves further into myth, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, reaching teens and game grownups. It posts in December, stabilizing the winter back end.

Streaming Firsts: Small budgets, sharp fangs

As theatrical skews franchise first, platforms are greenlighting boldly, and the needle moves.

A high ambition play arrives with Weapons, a forensic chill anthology threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Led by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. Debuting in theaters late summer then streaming in fall, it should ignite online discourse and post viewing breakdowns, much like Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a room scale body horror descent pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Set in a remote rental home during a getaway gone wrong, the narrative traces love and jealousy and self contempt into body collapse. It moves between affection and rot, a triptych into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is a lock for fall streaming.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s set vampire folk tale fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it recalls There Will Be Blood spliced to Let the Right One In. The title explores American religious trauma through supernatural symbol. Advance tests paint it as a watercooler streamer.

Further platform indies wait for their cue: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper all tap into themes of grief, disappearance, and identity, often using horror as metaphor instead of spectacle.

Possession Beneath the Skin: Young & Cursed

Posting October 2 across the big platforms, Young & Cursed presents a rare union, close in focus, wide in mythology. From writer director Andrew Chiaramonte, the arc centers on five strangers who wake inside a backcountry cabin, beneath Kyra’s command, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. With nightfall, Kyra’s power deepens, an invasive force mining their most secret fears, frailties, and regrets.

The dread here runs psychological, charged by primal myth. Not another exorcism story reliant on Catholic rite and Latin phrase, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith resists liturgy, she blooms through trauma, secrecy, and human delicacy. By making possession inward rather than external, Young & Cursed joins a trend toward intimate character studies masked as genre.

Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home set the film as Halloween counterprogramming versus sequel waves and monster returns. That is a savvy move. No overstuffed canon. No IP hangover. Sheer psychological unease, compact and taut, calibrated to digital binge beats. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF serve as nurseries for near future horror. And in 2025, they are acting more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest posts a muscular horror lineup this year. Primate, a tropical body horror opening night title, is drawing comparisons to both Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, revenge folklore with Aztec roots, is poised to close with blaze.

Those midnight titles, including If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, buzz from delivery as much as naming. That film, an A24 backed satire of toxic fandom inside a horror convention lockdown, looks poised to break out.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance appears set for grief threaded elevated horror once more, while Tribeca’s genre yard leans urban, social, and surreal.

Festival strategy in 2025 is not just about discovery, it is about branding. Those badges act as campaign openers, not end caps.

Long Running Lines: Next Chapters, New Starts, New Shapes

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen, dated July, revives the 90s franchise with a new lead and throwback tone. Compared to earlier parts, it tilts camp and prom night melodrama. Picture tiaras, bright red goo, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 opens late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The original’s social and streaming breakout emboldened Universal to double down.

The Long Walk adapts an early, scathing Stephen King work, helmed 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.

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

What to Watch

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is less nostalgia, more reclamation of pre Christian archetypes. Horror is not just scaring us, it is reminding us that evil is older than we are.

Body horror reemerges
Titles such as Together, Weapons, and Keeper return focus to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation now read as metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Originals on platforms bite harder
The filler era wanes for platform horror. Platforms invest in real scripts, real directors, and real campaigns. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Festival seals operate as leverage for distribution lanes and press windows. No festival plan in 2025, and disappearance looms.

Theatrical Is Now a Trust Fall
Studios save theaters for outperform prospects or IP farmers. Everything else is PVOD or hybrid. Horror continues in theaters, in narrower curated lanes.

Near Term Outlook: Autumn density and winter pivot

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. Look for a pivot by one or more into early 2026 or to new platforms.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 steadies December, yet a last minute streamer surprise is in play. As several big titles lean dark and mythic, there is room for one last creature feature or exorcism flick.

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 next spook lineup: returning titles, standalone ideas, plus A loaded Calendar engineered for Scares

Dek: The current horror season stacks at the outset with a January cluster, from there unfolds through peak season, and deep into the winter holidays, fusing name recognition, creative pitches, and savvy counterweight. Studios and platforms are betting on responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and influencer-ready assets that position the slate’s entries into mainstream chatter.

The landscape of horror in 2026

This category has emerged as the predictable swing in studio slates, a corner that can accelerate when it connects and still limit the drag when it under-delivers. After 2023 reminded strategy teams that lean-budget shockers can shape pop culture, 2024 sustained momentum with high-profile filmmaker pieces and surprise hits. The run translated to the 2025 frame, where reboots and festival-grade titles underscored there is an opening for a variety of tones, from legacy continuations to standalone ideas that carry overseas. The end result for 2026 is a slate that seems notably aligned across companies, with mapped-out bands, a mix of legacy names and new packages, and a tightened focus on big-screen windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium home window and home streaming.

Executives say the space now slots in as a schedule utility on the rollout map. Horror can bow on virtually any date, offer a quick sell for marketing and shorts, and punch above weight with viewers that line up on advance nights and hold through the second frame if the release hits. On the heels of a strike-induced shuffle, the 2026 mapping underscores certainty in that approach. The calendar rolls out with a stacked January run, then plants flags in spring and early summer for balance, while reserving space for a October build that stretches into All Hallows period and into early November. The layout also reflects the tightening integration of specialty arms and streaming partners that can platform a title, grow buzz, and go nationwide at the sweet spot.

A parallel macro theme is IP cultivation across ongoing universes and legacy IP. The studios are not just turning out another follow-up. They are trying to present continuity with a sense of event, whether that is a brandmark that signals a recalibrated tone or a casting pivot that reconnects a new installment to a classic era. At the concurrently, the directors behind the most anticipated originals are favoring hands-on technique, makeup and prosthetics and specific settings. That fusion produces the 2026 slate a lively combination of brand comfort and surprise, which is a pattern that scales internationally.

The majors’ 2026 approach

Paramount defines the early cadence with two high-profile bets that straddle tones widely. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the spine, framing it as both a relay and a back-to-basics character-driven entry. Principal photography is underway in Atlanta, and the tonal posture telegraphs a fan-service aware strategy without looping the last two entries’ Carpenter-sisters arc. Look for a marketing run stacked with franchise iconography, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm landing toward late fall. Distribution is Paramount theatrical.

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 re-teaming, with the Wayans brothers involved creatively for the first time since the early 2000s, a linchpin the campaign will double down on. As a non-tentpole summer option, this one will go after broad awareness through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format permitting quick adjustments to whatever defines the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate entries. SOULM8TE hits January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The hook is elegant, heartbroken, and concept-forward: a grieving man brings home an synthetic partner that turns into a lethal partner. The date places it at the front of a stacked January, with the studio’s marketing likely to replay uncanny-valley stunts and snackable content that hybridizes devotion and creep.

On May 8, 2026, the studio sets an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely believed to be the feature developed under early labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The posted calendar currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a final title to become an teaser payoff closer to the initial tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film books October 23, 2026, a slot he has dominated before. Peele’s pictures are presented as filmmaker events, with a teaser that reveals little and a follow-up trailer set that tee up tone without spoiling the concept. The Halloween-adjacent date gives Universal room to maximize pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then press the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, pairs with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček leads, with Souheila Yacoub top-lining. The franchise has demonstrated that a gritty, practical-effects forward treatment can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Frame it as a blood-soaked summer horror shock that pushes offshore potential, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most global territories.

Sony’s horror bench is impressively deep. The studio launches two brand-forward plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film lands August 21, 2026, preserving a dependable supernatural brand in play while this website the spin-off branch progresses. The studio has adjusted timing on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is marketing as a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a core part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a sharper mandate to serve both diehards and fresh viewers. The fall slot lets Sony to build artifacts around environmental design, and monster aesthetics, elements that can amplify premium screens and cosplay-friendly fan engagement.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, books a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film carries forward Eggers’ run of period horror characterized by textural authenticity and dialect, this time steeped in lycan lore. The company has already set the date for a holiday release, a signal of faith in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Platform lanes and windowing

Streaming playbooks in 2026 run on stable tracks. Universal titles shift to copyright after a exclusive run then PVOD, a structure that amplifies both initial urgency and sign-up spikes in the downstream. Prime Video balances library titles with world buys and limited runs in theaters when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu play their strengths in back-catalog play, using well-timed internal promotions, horror hubs, and staff picks to increase tail value on lifetime take. Netflix remains opportunistic about Netflix films and festival buys, slotting horror entries on shorter runways and coalescing around debuts with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a tiered of precision releases and speedy platforming that drives paid trials from buzz. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before leaning on direct-to-fan channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a discrete basis. The platform has shown a willingness to pick up select projects with name filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a select cinema run in partnership with exhibitors to meet qualification bars or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still benefits from the 20th Century Studios slate, a key factor for monthly engagement when the genre conversation heats up.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is quietly building a 2026 arc with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The appeal is uncomplicated: the same gloomy, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult classic, refined for modern mix and image. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has suggested a big-screen first plan for the title, an upbeat indicator for fans of the nasty series and for exhibitors in need of adult counterprogramming in the September weeks.

Focus will operate the filmmaker lane with Werwulf, managing the title through select festivals if the cut is ready, then turning to the holiday dates to go wider. That positioning has helped for craft-driven horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not firmed many 2026 dates in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines often crystallize after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A reasonable expectation is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can expand if reception prompts. Expect 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 hand in hand, using mini theatrical to fuel evangelism that fuels their user base.

Brands and originals

By volume, the 2026 slate skews toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all tap cultural cachet. The potential drawback, as ever, is brand wear. The near-term solution is to present each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is leading with relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is pushing a French-inflected take from a new voice. Those choices have impact when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and visionary-led titles keep the lungs full. Jordan Peele’s October film will be positioned as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, anchors on Rachel McAdams in a survival chiller premise with Raimi’s impish dread. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf delivers period specificity and an unyielding tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the packaging is grounded enough to accelerate early sales and early previews.

Rolling three-year comps make sense of the approach. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that respected streaming windows did not obstruct a day-date try from hitting when the brand was compelling. In 2024, craft-first auteur horror hit big in PLF auditoriums. In 2025, a reawakened chapter of a beloved infection saga showed the market that global horror franchises can still feel revitalized when they change perspective and elevate scope. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which unfolds January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The two-step approach, with chapters produced back-to-back, provides the means for marketing to relate entries through cast and motif and to sustain campaign assets without hiatuses.

Craft and creative trends

The craft conversations behind this slate indicate a continued lean toward material, place-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not this contact form mirror any recent iteration of the property, a stance that matches the hands-on effects stance he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped production and is aimed at its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that foregrounds mood and dread rather than whiz-bang spectacle, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has framed Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for deep sound design and a wintry, elemental feel on the big screen. Focus will likely frame this aesthetic in craft profiles and guild coverage before rolling out a preview that prioritizes vibe over plot, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is engineered for rubbery nastiness, a signature of the series that sells overseas in red-band trailers and sparks shareable shock clips from early screenings. Scream 7 aims for a meta inflection that refocuses on the original lead. Resident Evil will rise or fall on creature execution and sets, which match well with con floor moments and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a sonic showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the in-theater case feel irresistible. Look for trailers that elevate surgical sound design, deep-bass stingers, and dead-air cuts that work in PLF.

Annual flow

January is full. 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 moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month wraps with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a island survival chiller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the palette of tones creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure hands each a runway for each if word of mouth holds.

February through May set up the summer. Scream 7 hits February 27 with legacy momentum. In April, The Mummy reintroduces a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now sustains big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 hands off to summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer sorts the tones. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is jokier and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 brings ferocious intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can thrive next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest hits squarely for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through premium screens.

Late-season stretch leans IP. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a pre-October slot that still links to Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event grabs October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely backed by a shroud-first teaser rhythm and limited asset reveals that put concept first.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a marker that genre can live at Christmas when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. Focus has done this before, measured platforming, then turning to critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to sustain conversation into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can increase count in the first week of 2027 while using holiday momentum and holiday card usage.

Embedded title notes

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting on a rolling basis as production carries on. Logline: Sidney returns to meet a new Ghostface while the narrative re-keys to the original film’s genes. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy reset with a modern edge.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A grieving man’s machine mate escalates into something perilously amorous. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete 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 organizes in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: next step of a prestige infection saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man comes back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to run into a altering reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed production with U.S. distribution. 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 push to survive on a remote island as the power dynamic flips and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: star-centered survival shocker from a maestro.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles to be revealed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, driven by Cronin’s physical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. 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 domestic haunting narrative that plays with the horror of a child’s tricky senses. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: completed. Positioning: major-studio and marquee-led spirit-world suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers reuniting creatively. Logline: {A parody return that skewers contemporary horror memes and true crime fervors. Rating: rating forthcoming. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: four-quadrant summer counterplay.

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 breaks out, with an international twist in tone and setting. Rating: forthcoming. Production: cameras rolling in New Zealand. Positioning: graphic series entry optimized for PLF.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be announced in marketing. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: The Further ripples again, with a fresh family anchored to long-buried horrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: planning summer shoot for late-summer date. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstitute the franchise from the ground up, with an preference for true survival horror over set-piece spectacle. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in development with a locked date. Positioning: game-grounded refresh with wider appeal.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: unrevealed. Logline: strategically hidden. Rating: awaiting classification. 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-accurate language and elemental fear. Rating: not yet rated. Production: building toward Christmas Day opening. 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 big-screen run before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces structure this lineup. First, production that hiccuped or reshuffled in 2024 needed slack in the schedule. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often rely on fewer locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and shorter 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 outpaced straight-to-streaming releases. Third, community talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will work turnkey scare beats from test screenings, orchestrated scare clips calibrated to Thursday preview timing, and experiential pop-ups that double as influencer content. It is a repeatable playbook because it holds up.

The slot calculus is real. The first stretch of 2026 sees fewer family and superhero logjams, opening usable real estate for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or position as the older-lean choice. January is the prime example. Four separate horror flavors will compete across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The parody leverages early family and action lifts, then the hard-R entry can exploit a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Business outlook: budgets, ratings, and the sleeper hunt

Budgets remain in the comfort zone. Most of the films above will budget under the $40–$50 million tier, with many far below. That allows for strong PLF footprints without needing superhero-level volume to break even. The most likely R ratings include Evil Dead Burn, Werwulf, and possibly Resident Evil depending on the final cut. Scream 7, Insidious, and SOULM8TE can plausibly land PG-13 to maximize reach, though each franchise has toggled between ratings in the past. Specialty plays tend to lean R to preserve tone and intensity.

The dark-horse hunt 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 leverage those opportunities. 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. Predict a resilient PVOD phase industry-wide, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

How the year flows for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pattern and spread. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reanimates a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July goes red-band, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a bleak, literate nightmare. That is how you keep chatter alive and occupancy strong without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can escalate across the year, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors like the spacing. Horror delivers consistent Thursday swells, efficient screen counts, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can win premium screens, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, sound, 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, Lined Up To Scare

Frames adjust. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is firm. There is brand heft where it matters, new vision where it lands, and a calendar that shows studios understand how and when audiences want to be scared. 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, craft precise trailers, guard the secrets, and let the frights sell the seats.