Ancient Terror surfaces: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a chilling horror thriller, debuting Oct 2025 across major platforms

A chilling spectral suspense film from storyteller / visionary Andrew Chiaramonte, releasing an primeval evil when unknowns become instruments in a hellish ceremony. Premiering on October 2, 2025, on Amazon Prime, Google’s YouTube, Google’s Play platform, iTunes Movies, Apple TV+, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – steel yourselves for *Young & Cursed*, a harrowing tale of struggle and archaic horror that will revolutionize terror storytelling this spooky time. Brought to life by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this edge-of-your-seat and immersive tale follows five young adults who come to isolated in a remote cottage under the unfriendly control of Kyra, a female lead occupied by a biblical-era biblical demon. Steel yourself to be seized by a big screen ride that combines raw fear with biblical origins, streaming on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Supernatural inhabitation has been a long-standing narrative in film. In *Young & Cursed*, that idea is twisted when the demons no longer emerge from beyond, but rather deep within. This marks the malevolent side of each of them. The result is a gripping mental war where the drama becomes a perpetual contest between righteousness and malevolence.


In a unforgiving forest, five teens find themselves trapped under the ominous aura and overtake of a secretive character. As the survivors becomes powerless to fight her influence, severed and stalked by entities unnamable, they are confronted to reckon with their core terrors while the clock harrowingly strikes toward their end.


In *Young & Cursed*, dread escalates and teams splinter, demanding each soul to rethink their true nature and the idea of self-determination itself. The threat intensify with every tick, delivering a horror experience that intertwines otherworldly suspense with psychological weakness.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my objective was to dive into primal fear, an darkness born of forgotten ages, channeling itself through mental cracks, and highlighting a presence that challenges autonomy when autonomy is removed.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Playing Kyra was centered on something far beyond human desperation. She is unaware until the possession kicks in, and that turn is eerie because it is so unshielded.”

Viewing Options

*Young & Cursed* will be aired for streaming beginning on October 2nd, 2025, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango on-demand—so that customers globally can witness this spirit-driven thriller.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new official trailer #2 for *Young & Cursed*, live to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a sequel to its intro video, which has been viewed over thousands of viewers.


In addition to its first availability, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has publicized that *Young & Cursed* will also be shown overseas, taking the terror to a global viewership.


Experience this bone-rattling descent into darkness. Explore *Young & Cursed* this Halloween season to survive these haunting secrets about free will.


For teasers, making-of footage, and alerts from inside the story, follow @YoungAndCursedMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit the film’s website.





U.S. horror’s Turning Point: 2025 U.S. Slate weaves myth-forward possession, Indie Shockers, alongside IP aftershocks

Across pressure-cooker survival tales rooted in primordial scripture and stretching into installment follow-ups set beside sharp indie viewpoints, 2025 is tracking to be the most textured and tactically planned year for the modern era.

It is crowded, and also meticulously arranged. major banners stabilize the year with known properties, in parallel digital services prime the fall with unboxed visions and old-world menace. Meanwhile, indie storytellers is fueled by the backdraft of a record-setting 2024 festival season. As Halloween stays the prime week, the off-peak lanes are managed with purpose. A packed September to October corridor has become a rite of passage, and in 2025, the genre is also staking January, spring, and mid-summer. Viewers are primed, studios are precise, therefore 2025 may prove the most strategically arranged season.

Major and Mini-Major Maneuvers: Premium dread reemerges

The upper tier is moving decisively. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 amplifies the bet.

the Universal camp fires the first shot with an audacious swing: a refreshed Wolf Man, stepping away from the classic old-country village, but a sharp contemporary setting. From director Leigh Whannell with Christopher Abbott opposite Julia Garner, this iteration anchors the lycanthropy in a domestic breakdown. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it advances a tactic to control the winter valley through premium horror, not dumps.

Spring sees the arrival of Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher adaptation reframed as lean dread. Under Eli Craig with Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it moves like barn born dread with razor satire. Beneath the mask, it picks at rural paranoia, age cohort splits, and lynch mob logic. Early reactions hint at fangs.

As summer eases, Warner’s pipeline rolls out the capstone within its surest horror brand: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. While the template is known, director Michael Chaves is said to bring a more mournful, introspective tone to the series swan song. It sits in early September, securing daylight before October saturation.

After that, The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson is back, and so do the signature elements that made the first installment a sleeper hit: old school creep, trauma centered writing, and eerie supernatural logic. The bar is raised this go, by enlarging the “grabber” map and grief’s lineage.

Bringing up the winter anchor is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a franchise that brings its own crowd. The follow up digs further into canon, grows the animatronic horror lineup, seeking teens plus thirty something gamers. It drops in December, locking down the winter tail.

Streaming Offerings: Slim budgets, major punch

With cinemas leaning into known IP, platforms are wagering boldly, and results are there.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a multi timeline cold-case dread piece knitting three time bands around a mass vanishing. From Zach Cregger with Josh Brolin opposite Julia Garner, the work combines fright with dramatic torque. With a late summer theatrical bow and fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

On the minimalist axis arrives Together, a tight space body horror vignette pairing Alison Brie with Dave Franco. Fixed in a remote let as a weekend curdles, the arc observes love and green eyed envy and self harm turned somatic. It is romantic, grotesque, and deeply uncomfortable, a three act spiral into codependent hell. Despite no official platform date, it is destined for a fall landing.

In the mix sits Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend anchored by Michael B. Jordan. Framed in sepia richness with biblical metaphor, it evokes There Will Be Blood crossed with Let the Right One In. The story probes American religious trauma by way of supernatural allegory. 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 explores grief and disappearance and identity, opting allegory above bombast.

Possession, Deeper Than Ever: Young & Cursed

Going live October 2 on major services, Young & Cursed emerges as a rare mix, tight in frame and epic in resonance. Scripted and led by Andrew Chiaramonte, the movie observes five strangers who awaken in an isolated wilderness cabin, controlled 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.

This fear is psychologically driven, pulsing with primal myth. Instead of another exorcism piece centered on Catholic rites or Latin incantations, this story returns to something older, something darker. Lilith is not summoned by priests, she rises from trauma, muteness, and human fault lines. Making possession internal threads Young & Cursed into the current of intimate character studies in genre skin.

The film is positioned on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play, and Fandango at Home as Halloween balance against sequel stacks and creature returns. It is a smart play. No heavy handed lore. No sequel clutter. Just psychological dread, contained and tense, tailored to the binge then breathe cadence of digital horror fans. Among spectacle, Young & Cursed might win by restraint, then release.

Festival Born, Buyer Ready

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF remain breeding grounds for what horror looks like six to twelve months later. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

Fantastic Fest fields a robust horror set this year. Primate, an opening night tropical body-horror, invites Cronenberg meets Herzog talk. Whistle, an Aztec lore revenge tale, aims to close with burn.

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

SXSW staged Clown in a Cornfield and lined up microbudget haunts for talks. Sundance is expected to unspool its usual crop of grief soaked elevated horror, with Tribeca’s genre lane skewing urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. Badges kick off the sell, they do not merely decorate.

Legacy IP: Additions, Do Overs, and Revisions

The legacy slate is stronger, and more deliberate, than in recent years.

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. Imagine tiaras, smeared red, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 arrives late June, set to enlarge techno horror mythology with fresh faces and AI bred menaces. The opener’s social chatter and SVOD hours justify Universal’s deeper play.

On the slate sits The Long Walk, from one of Stephen King’s stark early titles, steered by Francis Lawrence, it shows as a grim dystopian parable set in survival horror, a youth walk ending only in death. With a precise angle, it could mirror The Hunger Games for adults in horror.

Other reboots and sequels, Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, are scattered across the calendar, most waiting for strategic windows or last minute acquisitions.

Key Trends

Myth turns mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed across to Aztec curses in Whistle, slates mine ancient texts and symbols. It eschews nostalgia to repossess pre Christian archetypes. Horror pushes past jump scares, it points to ancient evil.

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

Streamers grow fangs
Junk fill horror on platforms is receding. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Films like Weapons and Sinners are treated as events, not content.

Festival momentum becomes leverage
Laurels are not just decorative, they leverage theatrical, premium placement, and media cycles. A horror film without a festival strategy in 2025 risks disappearing.

Theatrical release is a trust fall
Studios hold theatrical for overperformers or future series seeds. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror is not vanishing from theaters, it is getting curated.

What’s Next: Autumn crowding, winter surprise

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. Anticipate possible date slides into early 2026 or platform moves.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 locks December, while a late surprise on a platform remains possible. 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 assignment is not to chase the next Get Out, it is to build horror that endures beyond box office.



The coming 2026 Horror calendar year ahead: returning titles, new stories, paired with A hectic Calendar designed for nightmares

Dek: The upcoming terror season stacks at the outset with a January logjam, subsequently spreads through June and July, and pushing into the holiday frame, balancing brand heft, fresh ideas, and savvy counterplay. Studios and streamers are committing to tight budgets, theatrical leads, and buzz-forward plans that frame these releases into mainstream chatter.

The genre’s posture for 2026

This category has solidified as the steady release in programming grids, a lane that can expand when it performs and still buffer the downside when it under-delivers. After 2023 reassured greenlighters that modestly budgeted chillers can own social chatter, 2024 continued the surge with high-profile filmmaker pieces and under-the-radar smashes. The tailwind extended into the 2025 frame, where legacy revivals and arthouse crossovers made clear there is a market for a variety of tones, from returning installments to non-IP projects that export nicely. The combined impact for 2026 is a grid that appears tightly organized across the market, with mapped-out bands, a spread of known properties and new packages, and a revived eye on theatrical windows that boost PVOD and platform value on premium digital and SVOD.

Schedulers say the category now behaves like a schedule utility on the schedule. The genre can roll out on nearly any frame, offer a clear pitch for teasers and reels, and exceed norms with patrons that come out on opening previews and sustain through the next weekend if the film delivers. On the heels of a strike-delayed pipeline, the 2026 setup exhibits belief in that playbook. The calendar starts with a heavy January band, then exploits spring through early summer for off-slot scheduling, while reserving space for a fall cadence that connects to late October and afterwards. The map also features the greater integration of boutique distributors and OTT outlets that can build gradually, generate chatter, and broaden at the strategic time.

A reinforcing pattern is legacy care across linked properties and long-running brands. Studios are not just rolling another chapter. They are working to present ongoing narrative with a marquee sheen, whether that is a logo package that indicates a new vibe or a ensemble decision that links a incoming chapter to a classic era. At the alongside this, the directors behind the top original plays are celebrating physical effects work, in-camera effects and site-specific worlds. That combination hands the 2026 slate a robust balance of familiarity and novelty, which is what works overseas.

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

Paramount defines the early cadence with two headline releases that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with Kevin Williamson in the director slot and Neve Campbell back at the center, positioning the film as both a lineage transfer and a DNA-forward character-focused installment. The shoot is ongoing in Atlanta, and the story approach telegraphs a fan-service aware mode without retreading the last two entries’ sisters thread. Count on a promo wave rooted in franchise iconography, character-first teases, and a rollout cadence arriving in late fall. Distribution is theatrical 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 reforming, with the Wayans brothers involved in development for the first time since the early 2000s, a hook the campaign will feature. As a summer counter-slot, this one will go after wide buzz through gif-able moments, with the horror spoof format lending itself to quick shifts to whatever shapes the social talk that spring.

Universal has three discrete bets. SOULM8TE arrives January 9, 2026, a tie-in spinoff from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The premise is tidy, somber, and elevator-pitch-ready: a grieving man adopts an AI companion that mutates into a fatal companion. The date sets it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to recreate strange in-person beats and micro spots that interweaves romance and terror.

On May 8, 2026, the studio positions an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely taken to be the feature developed under placeholder labels in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The official listing currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which leaves room for a name unveil to become an attention spike closer to the early tease. The timing gives Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles take the main frames.

Anchoring the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film claims October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s work are sold as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser that reveals little and a next wave of trailers that define feel without revealing the concept. The late-October frame offers Universal room to lead pre-holiday auditoriums with PLF and IMAX bookings where available, then use 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 guides, with Souheila Yacoub in the lead. The franchise has shown that a raw, on-set effects led mix can feel elevated on a disciplined budget. Frame it as a gore-forward summer horror surge that emphasizes foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most international territories.

Sony’s horror bench is unusually deep. The studio launches two brand plays in the back half. An untitled Insidious film hits August 21, 2026, extending a proven supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch moves forward. The studio has shifted dates on this title before, but the current plan plants it in late summer, where Insidious has performed historically.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil re-emerges in what Sony is calling a ground-zero restart for its game-to-film powerhouse. With the PlayStation Productions pipeline now a strategic part of the studio’s strategy, this new take has a clearer mandate to serve both core fans and newcomers. The fall slot gives Sony time to build materials around environmental design, and creature design, elements that can increase deluxe auditorium demand and fandom activation.

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 builds on the filmmaker’s run of period horror characterized by careful craft and linguistic texture, this time steeped in lycan lore. The distributor has already planted the flag for a holiday release, a strong signal in the auteur as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is enthusiastic.

Streaming strategies and platform plays

Home-platform rhythms for 2026 run on tested paths. Universal’s slate shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a tiered path that maximizes both opening-weekend urgency and platform bumps in the post-theatrical. Prime Video pairs licensed content with global acquisitions and brief theater runs when the data backs it. Max and Hulu work their advantages in library engagement, using seasonal hubs, genre hubs, and staff picks to extend momentum on lifetime take. Netflix keeps optionality about Netflix originals and festival acquisitions, securing horror entries near their drops and turning into events launches with condensed plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, works a staged of precision theatrical plays and rapid platforming that funnels enthusiasm into trials. That will be key for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before using community channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a per-project basis. The platform has proven amenable to board select projects with name filmmakers or name-led packages, then give them a small theatrical footprint in partnership with exhibitors to meet eligibility thresholds or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still uses the 20th Century Studios slate, a core piece for sustained usage when the genre conversation swells.

Art-house genre prospects

Cineverse is crafting a 2026 track with two brand-forward moves. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The proposition is straightforward: the same somber, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult hit, reimagined for modern audio-visual craft. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a autumn corridor, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. The distributor has indicated a wide-to-platform plan for Legacy, an good sign for fans of the savage series and for exhibitors wanting edgy counter in the October weeks.

Focus will lean into the auteur lane with Werwulf, managing the title through the autumn circuit if the cut is ready, then relying on the holiday dates to move out. That positioning has helped for filmmaker-driven genre with crossover ambitions. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines usually solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A safe bet is a cluster of late-summer and fall platformers that can surge if reception justifies. Anticipate 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 jointly, using small theatrical to prime evangelism that fuels their community.

Brands and originals

By skew, 2026 leans in favor of the brand side. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all exploit brand equity. The watch-out, as ever, is fatigue. The go-to fix is to brand each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is emphasizing character and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is hinting at a fresh ground-up build for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is highlighting a European tilt from a ascendant talent. Those choices matter when the audience has so many options and social sentiment spins fast.

Originals and auteur plays add oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be treated as a brand unto itself. Sam Raimi’s Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a crash-survival premise with signature tonal menace. SOULM8TE offers a simple, unsettling tech hook. Werwulf rests on period texture and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the configuration is steady enough to spark pre-sales and Thursday previews.

Comps from the last three years make sense of the method. In 2023, a theater-first model that preserved streaming windows did not prevent a simultaneous release test from delivering when the brand was trusted. In 2024, meticulous-craft horror hit big in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a revival of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel novel 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 linked-chapter plan, with chapters filmed consecutively, allows marketing to link the films through character web and themes and to keep materials circulating without lulls.

Aesthetic and craft notes

The craft rooms behind the year’s horror telegraph a continued preference for tactile, place-driven craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not resemble any recent iteration of the property, a stance that squares with the in-camera lean he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film wrapped principal photography and is tracking to its April 17, 2026 date. The push will likely that elevates texture and dread rather than fireworks, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership making room for financial discipline.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has said Werwulf as the most shadowed project he has tackled, which tracks with a medieval setting and historically accurate language, a combination that can make for immersive sound design and a spare, elemental mood on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in feature stories and craft coverage before rolling out a mood teaser that plays with mood rather than plot, a move that has paid off 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 targets a meta-horror reset that re-centers the original lead. Resident Evil will fly or stall on creature and environment design, which align with booth activations and timed asset drops. Insidious tends to be a audio showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the big-screen case feel primary. Look for trailers that emphasize hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and dropouts that land in premium houses.

Release calendar overview

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 tonal palate cleanser amid marquee brands. The month buttons with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a crash-survival thriller from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is meaningful, but the tone spread creates a lane for each, and the five-week structure offers clean runway for each if word of mouth endures.

Q1 into Q2 load in summer. Scream 7 bows February 27 with legacy heat. In April, New Line’s The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was home to genre counterprogramming and now accommodates big openers. Universal’s untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 rolls into 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 comedic and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 drops brutal intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sensible. 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 run their PLF course.

Late Q3 into Q4 leans series. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives Sony a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously worked. Resident Evil rolls in after September 18, a shoulder season window that still builds toward Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event takes October 23 and will dominate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely pushed by a slow-reveal plan and limited disclosures that elevate concept over story.

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

Title snapshots

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting TBA in phases as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to confront a new Ghostface while the narrative returns 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 loss-struck man’s intelligent companion shifts into something lethally affectionate. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped principal 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 opens the world beyond the immediate outbreak as a cult emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Double-shot with the first film. Positioning: prestige survival-horror continuation.

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 unsettled 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 hard-edged boss scramble to survive on a lonely island as the control balance upends and paranoia creeps in. Rating: TBA. Production: In the can. Positioning: star-led survival piece from a genre icon.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles not disclosed in official materials. Logline: A fresh reimagining that returns the monster to fright, built on Cronin’s on-set craft and suffocating dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Production wrapped. Positioning: classic monster relaunch with a filmmaker’s stamp.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A closed-door haunting piece that frames the panic through a minor’s uneven POV. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-scale and headline-actor led eerie suspense.

Scary Movie 6 (Paramount, June 12, 2026)
Director: Michael Tiddes. Top cast: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, with the Wayans brothers rejoining on the creative side. Logline: {A comic send-up that targets contemporary horror memes and true-crime buzz. Rating: undetermined. Production: production booked for fall 2025. Positioning: big-tent summer spoof.

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 surges, with an overseas twist in tone and setting. Rating: awaiting classification. Production: shooting in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBA publicly. Top cast: pending. Logline: The Further yawns again, with a new family anchored to residual nightmares. Rating: pending. Production: on track for summer lensing before late-summer rollout. Positioning: steady supernatural brand in a historically strong slot.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: TBD publicly. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to reconstruct the franchise from the ground up, with an focus on classic survival-horror tone over action-centric bombast. Rating: undetermined. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: fidelity-minded reboot with crossover prospects.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: closely held. Rating: undetermined. Production: continuing. Positioning: filmmaker event, teaser-driven.

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 ancient menace. Rating: TBD. Production: preproduction aligned to holiday frame. Positioning: filmmaker-driven holiday release with craft awards runway.

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 conventional theatrical window prior to platforming. Status: schedule in motion, fall targeted.

Why the moment is 2026

Three pragmatic forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or re-slotted in 2024 called for breathing room in the schedule. Horror can move in swiftly because scripts often are set in fewer locales, fewer large-scale digital sequences, and shorter timelines. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and great post to read then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently exceeded straight-to-streaming dumps. Third, digital word of mouth converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will mine shareable moments from test screenings, curated scare clips dropping on Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that feed creator content. It is a repeatable playbook because it performs.

Factor four is the scheduling calculus. The family and cape slots are lighter early in 2026, creating valuable space for genre entries that can dominate a weekend or act as the older-tilt option. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will trade weekends across five weekends, which permits distinct conversations to flourish. Summer provides the other window. The satire rides the animated and action tide, then the hard-R entry can benefit from a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Budgets and certifications, sleeper calculus

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 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 dark-horse hunt continues in Q1, where low-to-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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first unexpected breakout of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

Internationally, brand recognition helps Resident Evil, Evil Dead, and Scream travel, while 28 Years Later benefits from a British setting and returning talent. Werwulf and The Mummy will lean on auteur and classic-monster awareness abroad. Streamers will amplify the tail, with copyright pickups boosting Universal’s slate and Shudder driving evangelism for Cineverse titles. Project a sturdy PVOD period across titles, since horror fans have shown a willingness to pay for convenience after an opening weekend, especially when word of mouth is strong.

The moviegoer’s year in horror

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers momentum and variety. January is a spread, February delivers a legacy slasher, April restores a Universal monster, May and June provide a supernatural one-two 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 scale over time, using earlier releases to seed 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 deserve premium formats, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing visual texture, soundscape, and camera work 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

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts update. But the spine of 2026 horror is solid. There is brand gravity where needed, distinct vision where it matters, and a calendar that shows studios get how and when audiences want 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, cut crisp trailers, keep secrets, and let the screams sell the seats.