Age-old Evil Returns within Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising shocker, arriving Oct 2025 across leading streamers




A bone-chilling ghostly fright fest from author / filmmaker Andrew Chiaramonte, manifesting an archaic curse when outsiders become instruments in a demonic ordeal. Going live this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango at Home.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a intense story of struggle and age-old darkness that will reimagine horror this October. Realized by rising new wave horror talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this gritty and eerie tale follows five unknowns who are stirred caught in a far-off house under the menacing sway of Kyra, a tormented girl possessed by a timeless Old Testament spirit. Get ready to be enthralled by a screen-based spectacle that weaves together bodily fright with legendary tales, streaming on Amazon’s streaming platform, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Malevolent takeover has been a time-honored concept in motion pictures. In *Young & Cursed*, that notion is inverted when the presences no longer appear outside their bodies, but rather from their core. This illustrates the most primal side of the protagonists. The result is a gripping spiritual tug-of-war where the story becomes a relentless contest between moral forces.


In a abandoned landscape, five characters find themselves sealed under the malicious presence and curse of a elusive spirit. As the ensemble becomes defenseless to break her manipulation, exiled and chased by terrors ungraspable, they are forced to stand before their soulful dreads while the deathwatch unforgivingly strikes toward their death.


In *Young & Cursed*, paranoia amplifies and bonds splinter, demanding each survivor to doubt their personhood and the nature of decision-making itself. The intensity surge with every short lapse, delivering a horror experience that harmonizes spiritual fright with soulful exposure.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my creative target was to channel pure dread, an entity beyond recorded history, working through emotional fractures, and examining a evil that threatens selfhood when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Performing as Kyra was about accessing something outside normal anguish. She is unaware until the haunting manifests, and that transition is shocking because it is so unshielded.”

Watch the Horror Unfold

*Young & Cursed* will be unleashed for audiences beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s video hub, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home—offering audiences from coast to coast can face this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just launched a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, published to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a next step to its original clip, which has collected over massive response.


In addition to its domestic release, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has broadcast that *Young & Cursed* will also be distributed abroad, making the film to lovers of terror across nations.


Mark your calendar for this soul-jarring path of possession. Stream *Young & Cursed* this horrific release to dive into these ghostly lessons about our species.


For teasers, director cuts, and news from the cast and crew, follow @YACMovie across your favorite networks and visit the official website.





U.S. horror’s sea change: 2025 across markets U.S. release slate weaves old-world possession, Indie Shockers, set against tentpole growls

Moving from endurance-driven terror rooted in near-Eastern lore and stretching into brand-name continuations set beside keen independent perspectives, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured paired with calculated campaign year in the past ten years.

The 2025 horror calendar goes beyond packed, it is precision-tuned. studio powerhouses bookend the months with franchise anchors, while platform operators load up the fall with unboxed visions and primordial unease. Meanwhile, the micro-to-mid budget ranks is propelled by the tailwinds from a high-water 2024 festival stretch. Since Halloween is the prized date, the schedule beyond October is tightly engineered. The fall stretch is the proving field, yet in 2025, teams are capturing January, spring, and mid-summer. Audiences are leaning in, studios are methodical, accordingly 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Major Studio Plans with Mini-Major Flex: Elevated fear reclaims ground

The majors are assertive. If 2024 set the base, 2025 deepens the push.

Universal’s schedule starts the year with a headline swing: a reimagined Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. Led by Leigh Whannell and toplined by Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this pass grounds the lycanthropy in household collapse. The evolution surpasses the body, into spouses, parents, and bruised humanity. dated for mid January, it aligns with turning the winter slack into a premium lane, not a dumping lane.

Spring ushers in Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher port tuned to austere horror. Directed by Eli Craig and featuring Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it comes as grit laced American nightmare with sardonic edge. Behind its clown mask lies commentary on small town paranoia, generational divides, and mob justice. Early circuit chatter says it has bite.

When summer tapers, Warner Bros. sets loose the finale from its cornerstone horror IP: The Conjuring: Last Rites. The Warrens return, played by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Although the framework is familiar, Michael Chaves appears to favor a elegiac, inward tone here. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Derrickson resumes command, and the memorable motifs return: 70s style chill, trauma in the foreground, and a cold supernatural calculus. This time the stakes climb, through a fuller probe of the “grabber” lore and inherited grief.

Completing the calendar is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, an offering that markets itself. The sophomore entry expands the mythology, expands its animatronic nightmare roster, while aiming for teen viewers and thirty something game loyalists. It bows in December, cornering year end horror.

Streamer Exclusives: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While theaters lean on names and sequels, streamers are taking risks, and it is paying off.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a cold file multi story chiller stitching three periods attached to a mass disappearance. Steered by Zach Cregger with turns by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the piece merges terror with dramatic mass. Arriving to cinemas late summer then to streamers in fall, it seems set to fuel decode culture and breakdowns, in the Barbarian lane.

At the smaller scale sits Together, a body horror chamber piece pairing Alison Brie with 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 plays romantic, grotesque, and acutely uneasy, a three act descent into codependent hell. Though no platform has officially staked a release date, it is a near certain autumn drop.

Also notable is Sinners, a thirties era vampire folk parable featuring Michael B. Jordan. Captured with warm sepia and heavy biblical metaphor, it nods to There Will Be Blood beside Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Initial test audience notes point to a buzzy streaming debut.

More streamer bound indies stand by in the shadows: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Possession Runs Deep: Young & Cursed

Arriving October 2 across major platforms, Young & Cursed arrives as a rare marriage, contained in staging yet mythic in effect. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the story trails five strangers who come to in a far off forest cabin, ruled by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. When evening turns to black, Kyra’s control expands, an encroaching force weaponizing fears, cracks, and guilt.

The unease is psychological, fused to primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. This inside out possession reframes expectation and groups Young & Cursed with a rising current, intimate character dramas within genre.

The platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home, angle the film as Halloween counterprogramming to sequel load and monster re ups. It is a clever angle. No overstuffed canon. No IP hangover. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. With a spectacle heavy year, Young & Cursed may pop by going quiet, then screaming.

Festival Badges as Fuel

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. In 2025, they behave more like launchpads than showcases.

Fantastic Fest has a thick horror program this time. Primate opens the fest with tropical body horror and critics cite Cronenberg and Herzog. Whistle, a folkloric revenge piece in Aztec lore, likely shuts the fest with heat.

At midnight, entries like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You buzz for how they play, not only their names. With A24 behind it, the satire of toxic fandom under a convention lockdown seems breakout bound.

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance should deliver grief heavy elevated horror again, while Tribeca’s genre section leans more urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. The laurel is campaign ignition, not epilogue.

Heritage Horror: Reups, Reboots, and Rethinks

The franchise bench is sturdier and more targeted than lately.

Fear Street: Prom Queen hits July to revive the 90s line with fresh lead and VHS vibe. Unlike earlier entries, this leans camp and prom night melodrama. Visualize tiaras, fake gore, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 slots late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

The Long Walk, from an early and searing Stephen King work, is inbound, under Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. If framed properly, it could echo The Hunger Games for adult horror.

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.

Emerging Currents

Ancient myth goes wide
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. Not nostalgia, a reclaim of pre Christian archetypes. Horror exceeds jolts, it insists evil is ancient.

Body Horror Makes a Comeback
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation, these are the new metaphors for heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Streaming originals get teeth
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. Streamers are investing in real scripts, real directors, and real marketing pushes. 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.

The big screen is a trust exercise
The cinema lane is kept for probable outperformers or branchers. The balance slides PVOD or hybrid. Horror still lives in theaters, more curated than broad.

Forward View: 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 must claw for air. Some may slide to early 2026 or switch platform lanes.

December holds on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, though a stealth streamer release may land late. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The key is connecting variety to fragmentation, not betting on one piece. The brief is not the next Get Out, it is horror with afterlife beyond receipts.



The oncoming spook lineup: returning titles, original films, and also A busy Calendar geared toward Scares

Dek: The new scare year clusters early with a January glut, after that carries through the mid-year, and running into the year-end corridor, blending brand heft, new concepts, and well-timed calendar placement. Studios with streamers are committing to responsible budgets, theater-first strategies, and social-driven marketing that shape these pictures into culture-wide discussion.

The genre’s posture for 2026

The horror sector has established itself as the surest counterweight in annual schedules, a lane that can break out when it connects and still cushion the floor when it underperforms. After 2023 demonstrated to studio brass that efficiently budgeted entries can shape the national conversation, 2024 extended the rally with signature-voice projects and under-the-radar smashes. The momentum pushed into 2025, where reawakened brands and arthouse crossovers made clear there is demand for diverse approaches, from series extensions to filmmaker-driven originals that export nicely. The aggregate for the 2026 slate is a grid that seems notably aligned across studios, with clear date clusters, a mix of known properties and novel angles, and a re-energized eye on box-office windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium video on demand and subscription services.

Marketers add the genre now performs as a schedule utility on the distribution slate. Horror can open on almost any weekend, create a tight logline for previews and vertical videos, and punch above weight with audiences that come out on early shows and maintain momentum through the next pass if the picture fires. After a strike-affected pipeline, the 2026 plan signals comfort in that dynamic. The year kicks off with a busy January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a September to October window that flows toward the Halloween frame and into the next week. The layout also reflects the greater integration of specialty arms and streaming partners that can stage a platform run, create conversation, and go nationwide at the precise moment.

A reinforcing pattern is brand curation across linked properties and classic IP. Distribution groups are not just rolling another return. They are setting up continuity with a heightened moment, whether that is a title presentation that conveys a refreshed voice or a lead change that bridges a new entry to a first wave. At the simultaneously, the creative teams behind the top original plays are celebrating physical effects work, real effects and location-forward worlds. That fusion produces the 2026 slate a robust balance of recognition and newness, which is how the genre sells abroad.

How the majors and mini-majors are programming

Paramount opens strong with two big-ticket entries that span tone from serious to silly. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the director role and Neve Campbell back at the forefront, presenting it as both a legacy handover and a heritage-centered character-centered film. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the authorial approach hints at a classic-referencing angle without recycling the last two entries’ sisters thread. Anticipate a campaign stacked with classic imagery, intro reveals, and a tease cadence slated for 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 back together, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer contrast play, this one will seek four-quadrant chatter through remixable clips, with the horror spoof format permitting quick reframes to whatever rules the discourse that spring.

Universal has three separate lanes. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a universe branch from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tidy, heartbroken, and logline-clear: a grieving man installs an intelligent companion that unfolds into a dangerous lover. The date puts it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with the Universal machine likely to replay uncanny live moments and bite-size content that hybridizes attachment and unease.

On May 8, 2026, the studio lines up an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely understood to be the feature developed under internal titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which preserves a name unveil to become an attention spike closer to the first trailer. The timing holds ground in early May while larger tentpoles cluster around other dates.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film grabs October 23, 2026, a slot he has commanded before. Peele’s work are positioned as event films, with a teaser with minimal detail and a subsequent trailers that shape mood without giving away the concept. The late-October frame gives Universal room to saturate pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then pivot to the copyright window to capture late-October interest at home.

Warner Bros., via New Line, aligns with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček is at the helm of, with Souheila Yacoub at the center. The franchise has long shown that a in-your-face, makeup-driven strategy can feel top-tier on a controlled budget. Frame it as a splatter summer horror shot that centers global traction, 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 arrives August 21, 2026, sustaining a dependable supernatural brand in the market while the spin-off branch continues to develop. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan holds it in late summer, where the brand has traditionally delivered.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil steps back in what the studio is selling as a reset 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 directive to serve both franchise faithful and novices. The fall slot hands Sony window to build marketing units around universe detail, and creature builds, elements that can increase large-format demand and community activity.

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 continues Eggers’ run of period horror defined by careful craft and period language, this time set against lycan legends. The imprint has already locked the day for a holiday release, a vote of confidence in Eggers as a specialty play that can move wide if early reception is favorable.

SVOD and PVOD rhythms

Windowing plans in 2026 run on established tracks. Universal titles feed copyright after a theatrical-first then PVOD phase, a tiered path that enhances both week-one demand and viewer acquisition in the after-window. Prime Video combines licensed content with world buys and small theatrical windows when the data justifies it. Max and Hulu optimize their lanes in deep cuts, using editorial spots, October hubs, and handpicked rows to stretch the tail on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix originals and festival buys, confirming horror entries on shorter runways and eventizing premieres with short runway campaigns. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, capitalizes on a two-step of targeted cinema placements and rapid platforming that turns chatter to conversion. That will be material for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before activating genre-fan funnels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ continues to evaluate horror on a selective basis. The platform has been willing to take on select projects with top-tier auteurs or star-led packages, then give them a limited theatrical run in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to build credibility before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for month-over-month retention when the genre conversation peaks.

Indie corridors

Cineverse is engineering a 2026 slate with two recognizable titles. 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 favorite, recalibrated for modern audio and picture. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has flagged a cinema-first plan for Legacy, an promising marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors needing R-rated alternatives in the September weeks.

Focus will favor the auteur track with Werwulf, shepherding the title through the fall circuit if the cut is ready, then deploying the Christmas corridor to move out. That positioning has served the company well for auteur horror with mainstream crossovers. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not finalized many 2026 slots in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A solid projection is a handful of late-summer and fall platformers that can scale if reception drives. Plan on an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that premieres at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work in concert, using select theatrical to kindle evangelism that fuels their subscriber base.

Franchises versus originals

By tilt, 2026 bends toward the series side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness household recognition. The question, as ever, is brand erosion. The workable fix is to sell each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is bringing forward character and roots in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a restart at zero for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is centering a Francophone tone from a buzzed-about director. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment shifts fast.

Originals and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated 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-thriller premise with the filmmaker’s mischievous menace. SOULM8TE offers a lean, creepy tech hook. Werwulf leans on period specificity and an severe tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the configuration is known enough to build pre-sales and first-night audiences.

Recent-year comps frame the strategy. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that kept clean windows did not deter a same-day experiment from hitting when the brand was potent. In 2024, director-craft horror exceeded expectations in premium screens. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga demonstrated that global horror franchises can still feel recharged when they reorient and widen scale. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which moves forward January 16, 2026 with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The double feature plan, with chapters lensed back-to-back, allows marketing to connect the chapters through protagonists and motifs and to sustain campaign assets without doldrums.

Production craft signals

The behind-the-scenes chatter behind the upcoming entries hint at a continued lean toward practical, location-rooted craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not follow any recent iteration of the property, a stance that fits with the in-camera sensibility he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped photography and is moving toward its April 17, 2026 date. Watch for a drive that emphasizes creep and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership sustaining cost precision.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has outlined Werwulf as the most severe project he has tackled, which tracks with a historical setting and era-true language, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a chilly, elemental vibe on the big screen. Focus will likely pre-sell this aesthetic in behind-the-scenes pieces and craft spotlights before rolling out a tease that elevates tone over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is calibrated for gross-out texture, a signature of the series that works internationally in red-band trailers and creates shareable audience clips from early screenings. Scream 7 positions a meta inflection that returns to the core star. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature execution and sets, which match well with expo activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a mix showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the cinema argument feel essential. Look for trailers that underscore precise sound design, deep-bass stingers, and mute beats that shine in top rooms.

Annual flow

January is busy. SOULM8TE opens January 9, 2026, then Sony returns a week later with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple on January 16. Return to Silent Hill follows on January 23, a moody palate cleanser amid macro-brand pushes. The month concludes 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 thick, but the tone spread opens lanes for all, and the five-week structure gives each runway for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Pre-summer months set up the summer. Paramount’s Scream 7 arrives February 27 with nostalgia energy. In April, New Line’s The Mummy revives a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once served genre counterprogramming and now enables 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 spreads the field. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is lighter-toned and broader, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 presents brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is solid. The spoof can pop next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest scratches the itch for older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have cycled through PLF.

Back half into fall leans brand. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously thrived. Resident Evil comes after September 18, a shoulder-season slot that still bridges into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event claims October 23 and will own cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that favor idea over plot.

Awards-adjacent specialty. Werwulf on December 25 is a line in sand that genre can play the holidays when packaged as this content director prestige horror. Focus has done this before, rolling out carefully, then working critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film lands critically, the studio can go wider in the first week of 2027 while building on holiday impulse and gift-card spend.

Title-by-title briefings, embedded in the narrative

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting rolling out as production continues. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative resurfaces the original film’s genetic code. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: origin-forward with a contemporary twist.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A loss-struck man’s synthetic partner becomes something romantically lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Production locked for an early-year bow. Positioning: tech shocker with 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 enlarges the frame beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult rises in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Lensed back-to-back with the first film. Positioning: continuation of a revived prestige zombie saga.

Return to Silent Hill (Cineverse, January 23, 2026)
Director: Christophe Gans. Top cast: TBA in updated campaign materials. Logline: A man travels back to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to stumble upon a unsettled reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed with U.S. theatrical distribution secured. 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 abrasive boss fight to survive on a cut-off island as the pecking order turns and mistrust rises. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: star-front survival film from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not yet announced in official materials. Logline: A contemporary retelling that returns the monster to dread, grounded in Cronin’s on-set craft and oozing dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Finished. Positioning: iconic monster return with auteur mark.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A domestic haunting narrative that leverages the dread of a child’s mercurial interpretations. Rating: forthcoming. Production: locked. Positioning: studio-backed, star-driven ghostly suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers back in creative roles. Logline: {A send-up revival that pokes at in-vogue horror tropes and true crime preoccupations. Rating: TBA. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: mass-audience summer option.

Evil Dead Burn (Warner Bros. domestic, July 24, 2026)
Director: Sébastien Vaniček. Top cast: Souheila Yacoub, with ensemble additions. Logline: A new infestation of Deadites detonates, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: undetermined. Production: on location in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: to be confirmed in marketing. Top cast: TBD. Logline: The Further unfurls again, with a new family bound to old terrors. Rating: forthcoming. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: TBA. Logline: A clean reboot designed to rebuild the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on pure survival horror over action fireworks. Rating: pending. Production: moving through development on a locked slot. 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: purposely secretive. Rating: forthcoming. Production: ongoing. 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 antique diction and raw menace. Rating: awaiting classification. 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 classic theatrical rollout before platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why 2026, why now

Three hands-on forces calibrate this lineup. First, production that stalled or migrated in 2024 required runway on the datebook. Horror can plug those gaps fast because scripts often require limited locations, fewer large-scale VFX set pieces, and pared-down timelines. Second, studios have become more structured about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently surpassed straight-to-streaming debuts. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate bite-size scare clips from test screenings, precision scare clips launched on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that seed creator reels. It is a repeatable playbook because it wins.

Calendar math also matters. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can own a weekend outright or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four tonal lanes of horror will share space across five weekends, which keeps buzz lanes tidy. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budget discipline, rating paths, sleeper math

Budgets remain in the ideal band. Most of the films above will live under the $40–$50 million ceiling, with many far below. That allows for aggressive PLF bookings 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 lean-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 harvest those lanes. January could easily deliver the first stealth overachiever 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. Forecast a healthy PVOD window broadly, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

Audience cadence through 2026

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers cadence and diversity. January is a feast, February delivers a legacy slasher, April returns a Universal monster, May and June provide a paranormal one-two for date nights and group outings, July gets gnarly, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a somber, 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 gain momentum, using earlier releases to seed the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors are pleased with the spacing. Horror delivers regular Thursday spikes, right-sized allotments, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can credibly make the premium-screen case, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing grain, sonics, 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.

2026 Shapes Up Strong

Calendars slide. Ratings change. Casts reconfigure. But the spine of 2026 horror is in place. There is brand power where it counts, auteur intent where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios read audience appetite 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 late-stage specialty acquisition join the party. For now, the job is simple, roll out exact trailers, hold the mystery, and let the shocks sell the seats.



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