Antediluvian Evil awakens: Andrew Chiaramonte’s Young & Cursed, a hair raising horror feature, landing Oct 2025 across major platforms

A blood-curdling paranormal suspense story from scriptwriter / director Andrew Chiaramonte, triggering an ancient entity when drifters become puppets in a fiendish ceremony. Dropping this October 2nd, 2025, on Prime Video, the YouTube platform, Google’s Play platform, iTunes, Apple’s TV+ service, and Fandango streaming.

Los Angeles, CA (August 8, 2025) – ready yourself for *Young & Cursed*, a disturbing journey of endurance and age-old darkness that will reshape the fear genre this harvest season. Brought to life by rising filmmaking talent Andrew Chiaramonte, this harrowing and immersive motion picture follows five lost souls who snap to stuck in a off-grid cottage under the aggressive command of Kyra, a female presence haunted by a biblical-era ancient fiend. Steel yourself to be seized by a screen-based event that intertwines primitive horror with biblical origins, releasing on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home on the second of October, 2025.


Diabolic occupation has been a mainstay narrative in screenwriting. In *Young & Cursed*, that belief is inverted when the spirits no longer arise from a different plane, but rather inside them. This mirrors the deepest part of the group. The result is a harrowing spiritual tug-of-war where the story becomes a intense push-pull between innocence and sin.


In a haunting wild, five youths find themselves contained under the unholy grip and haunting of a shadowy person. As the characters becomes helpless to evade her curse, detached and attacked by forces inconceivable, they are obligated to battle their soulful dreads while the seconds relentlessly winds toward their dark fate.


In *Young & Cursed*, anxiety builds and alliances fracture, forcing each soul to doubt their character and the idea of liberty itself. The cost grow with every tick, delivering a cinematic nightmare that fuses spiritual fright with emotional fragility.

Andrew Chiaramonte, Director: “With *Young & Cursed*, my intention was to awaken basic terror, an spirit that predates humanity, influencing soul-level flaws, and examining a curse that forces self-examination when stripped of free will.”

Madison Hubler (Kyra): “Living Kyra was centered on something deeper than fear. She is blind until the control shifts, and that transformation is soul-crushing because it is so emotional.”

Distribution & Access

*Young & Cursed* will be distributed for audiences beginning this October 2, on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google’s store, iTunes, Apple’s streaming platform, and Fandango on-demand—so that audiences from coast to coast can watch this demonic journey.


Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has just shared a new extended look for *Young & Cursed*, online to watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/zu0n4WmPI1s, as a evolution to its release of trailer #1, which has been viewed over a huge fan reaction.


In addition to its continental debut, Chiaramonte Films, Inc. has shared that *Young & Cursed* will also be streamed globally, bringing the film to a worldwide audience.


Witness this mind-warping descent into hell. Join *Young & Cursed* this spooky debut to witness these fearful discoveries about inner darkness.


For teasers, filmmaker commentary, and announcements straight from the filmmakers, follow @YACMovie across Facebook and TikTok and visit the official digital haunt.





Contemporary horror’s major pivot: the year 2025 stateside slate integrates primeval-possession lore, festival-born jolts, plus IP aftershocks

Kicking off with grit-forward survival fare inspired by biblical myth and stretching into returning series and keen independent perspectives, 2025 is coalescing into the most dimensioned paired with intentionally scheduled year since the mid-2010s.

The 2025 horror calendar reads less like chaos, more like a plan. major banners hold down the year with franchise anchors, as platform operators stack the fall with debut heat plus ancestral chills. In the indie lane, the independent cohort is riding the carry of a peak 2024 circuit. Since Halloween is the prized date, the remaining months are slotted with surgical care. That late Q3 to mid Q4 lane is the crucible, distinctly in 2025, horror is also claiming January, spring, and even mid-summer. Viewers are hungry, studios are targeted, as a result 2025 could register as the most purpose-built year yet.

Studio Chessboard and Mini-Major Plays: High-craft horror returns

The majors are not coasting. If 2024 set the stage for reinvention, 2025 doubles down.

Universal’s pipeline begins the calendar with a headline swing: a newly envisioned Wolf Man, set not in some misty 19th-century European village, but a crisp modern milieu. Led by Leigh Whannell and starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner, this approach fixes the lycanthropy within intimate rupture. The arc is bodily and domestic, about marriage, caregiving, and fragile humanity. dated for mid January, it helps remake the winter trough with prestige offerings, not discard thrillers.

Spring delivers Clown in a Cornfield, a YA slasher page-to-screen distilled into spare horror. Led by Eli Craig including Katie Douglas and Kevin Durand, it reads as gore kissed small town horror with wry bite. Behind the grin, it unpacks local hysteria, generational chasms, and crowd justice. First wave buzz indicates sharp teeth.

By late summer, Warner’s slate launches the swan song of its steadiest horror franchise: The Conjuring: Last Rites. With Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson back as Ed and Lorraine Warren, the piece hints at a heartfelt wrap as it treats a notorious case. Despite a known recipe, Chaves is expected to tune it to a grieving, self reflective color. It lands in early September, carving air ahead of October’s stack.

Following that is The Black Phone 2. Once set for early summer, the October pivot signals belief. Scott Derrickson is back, and the core ingredients of the sleeper original are back: retro dread, trauma as text, along with eerie supernatural rules. This pass pushes higher, with added layers to the “grabber” frame and long memory of loss.

Rounding the tentpole corner is Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, a property whose brand does the lifting. The second outing goes deeper into backstory, stretches the animatronic parade, speaking to teens and older millennials. It lands in December, holding the cold season’s end.

Streaming Originals: Small budgets, sharp fangs

While cinemas swing on series strength, SVOD players are testing edges, and gains show.

One of the year’s most ambitious streaming titles is Weapons, a long shadow anthology of dread threading three timelines via a mass disappearance. Directed by Zach Cregger fronted by Josh Brolin and Julia Garner, the film fuses dread with dramatic heft. Premiering theatrically in late summer before a fall streaming drop, it looks primed to seed post watch analysis akin to Barbarian.

More contained by design is Together, a close quarters body horror study with Alison Brie and 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 lands sweet then sick then searing, a three step spin into codependent hell. Before a platform date is locked, it is tracking toward an autumn slot.

Also rising is Sinners, a 1930s rooted vampire folk legend fronted by Michael B. Jordan. Photographed in sepia saturation with biblical metaphor, it channels There Will Be Blood against Let the Right One In. The movie studies American religious trauma through the supernatural lens. Pre release tests anoint it a conversation starter on streaming.

Extra indies bide their time on platforms: Bring Her Back, Bone Lake, and Keeper each engages grief, missing persons, and identity, with metaphor before show.

Deep Possession Currents: Young & Cursed

Bowing October 2 on major streamers, Young & Cursed stands as a rare hybrid, both intimate in scope and mythic in reach. Written and directed by Andrew Chiaramonte, the narrative rides with five strangers waking in a secluded woodland cabin, held by Kyra, a young woman possessed by the ancient biblical demon Lilith. As night descends, so does Kyra’s power, an invasive force that exploits their deepest fears, weaknesses, and regrets.

The threat is psychological first, wired with primal myth. Swerving the standard exorcism angle of Catholic rite and Latin word, this film taps 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.

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 puffed out backstory. No canon weight. Bare psychological dread, trim and tense, designed for binge and breath patterns. Against fireworks, Young & Cursed might stand apart by stillness, then shock.

Festivals as Springboards

Fantastic Fest, SXSW, Tribeca, and TIFF still seed what horror becomes in six to twelve months. This year, the launchpad function outruns the showcase role.

This year, Fantastic Fest confirms a strong horror slate. Primate, a tropical body horror curtain raiser, invites Cronenberg Herzog comp. Whistle, a folkloric revenge burner in Aztec code, should close with flame.

Midnight fare like If I Had Legs I’d Kick You rides on craft as well as title. A24 support plus satire of toxic fandom in a convention lockdown puts it on breakout watch.

SXSW premiered Clown in a Cornfield and introduced several microbudget hauntings currently circling deals. Sundance likely lifts another batch of grief laced elevated horror, and Tribeca’s genre box tilting urban, social, and surreal.

Festival playbooks now prize branding as much as discovery. A badge from Fantastic Fest or TIFF is now the first phase of marketing, not the last.

Series Horror: Sequels and Reboots, Reinvention Included

This year’s legacy entries carry strength and deliberation.

Fear Street: Prom Queen comes in July with franchise revival, new lead, retro styling. Departing prior tones, it leans camp and prom night melodrama. Think tiaras, stage blood, and VHS panic.

M3GAN 2.0 returns in late June, targeting a broadened techno horror canon with new characters and AI spawned nightmares. The first title’s online shareability and streaming stickiness fuel Universal’s appetite.

Then there is The Long Walk, an adaptation of one of Stephen King’s earliest and most harrowing works, with Francis Lawrence directing, it stands as a punishing dystopian allegory wearing survival horror, a march until death with no victors. If sold right, it could sit as The Hunger Games for adult horror fans.

Other reboots and sequels, including Hell House LLC: Lineage, V/H/S/Halloween, The Toxic Avenger, and Anaconda, scatter across the calendar, many awaiting strategic windows or late acquisitions.

Trends to Watch

Mythic lanes mainstream
From Lilith in Young & Cursed to Aztec curses in Whistle, horror is turning to ancient texts and symbols. This is not nostalgia, it is a 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
With films like Together, Weapons, and Keeper, horror is going back to the flesh. Mutation, infection, transformation map to heartbreak, grief, and regret.

Platform originals gain bite
Low grade filler is no longer the platform default. SVOD players fund strong scripts, proven directors, and real spend. Pieces like Weapons and Sinners receive event status, not feed stock.

Festival buzz converts to leverage
Badges are functional, they buy theatrical access, prime placement, and cycles. Skip festival strategy in 2025 and the film risks invisibility.

Cinemas are a trust fall
The big screen goes to those expected to beat comps or build series. All others choose PVOD or hybrid. Horror keeps theatrical presence, via curation.

Forward View: Fall saturation and a winter joker

The combination of Young & Cursed, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Black Phone 2, and Weapons across September and October saturates fall. Indies, including Bone Lake and Keeper, will battle for oxygen. Expect one or more to pivot into early 2026 or shift platforms.

December centers on Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, but a final weeks surprise stream could still hit. Since big films lean mythic, a final monster or exorcism play can claim space.

The 2025 performance is about reach across segments, not one hero title. The mission is not a new Get Out, it is sustained horror beyond tickets.



The 2026 chiller release year: follow-ups, universe starters, and also A brimming Calendar geared toward screams

Dek The current scare calendar packs immediately with a January crush, thereafter spreads through midyear, and running into the late-year period, balancing brand heft, fresh ideas, and well-timed calendar placement. Studio marketers and platforms are betting on cost discipline, big-screen-first runs, and social-fueled campaigns that transform these pictures into culture-wide discussion.

The state of horror, heading into 2026

Horror has turned into the consistent tool in distribution calendars, a corner that can break out when it resonates and still cushion the risk when it does not. After 2023 proved to decision-makers that low-to-mid budget scare machines can galvanize mainstream conversation, 2024 held pace with director-led heat and stealth successes. The momentum pushed into 2025, where resurrections and prestige plays highlighted there is a lane for different modes, from franchise continuations to fresh IP that carry overseas. The upshot for 2026 is a run that shows rare alignment across distributors, with planned clusters, a harmony of recognizable IP and first-time concepts, and a recommitted priority on box-office windows that drive downstream revenue on premium home window and platforms.

Studio leaders note the space now behaves like a fill-in ace on the programming map. Horror can premiere on many corridors, supply a simple premise for promo reels and social clips, and over-index with ticket buyers that line up on preview nights and stay strong through the follow-up frame if the movie hits. On the heels of a strike-bent pipeline, the 2026 mapping underscores assurance in that equation. The year starts with a weighty January corridor, then leans on spring and early summer for genre counterpoints, while making space for a fall cadence that pushes into the fright window and beyond. The calendar also highlights the expanded integration of indie arms and digital platforms that can develop over weeks, stoke social talk, and expand at the precise moment.

Another broad trend is franchise tending across linked properties and established properties. Major shops are not just producing another chapter. They are seeking to position lineage with a sense of event, whether that is a title presentation that announces a new vibe or a casting move that ties a latest entry to a initial period. At the in tandem, the creative leads behind the most watched originals are celebrating real-world builds, practical gags and distinct locales. That pairing produces 2026 a smart balance of recognition and unexpected turns, which is the formula for international play.

Major-player strategies for 2026

Paramount plants an early flag with two centerpiece pushes that sit at tonal extremes. First comes Scream 7 on February 27, 2026, with original architect Kevin Williamson in the lead and Neve Campbell back at the front, framing it as both a lineage transfer and a heritage-centered relationship-driven entry. Filming is underway in Atlanta, and the creative stance announces a heritage-honoring strategy without rehashing the last two entries’ sibling arc. Expect a marketing push see here stacked with signature symbols, character-first teases, and a teaser-to-trailer rhythm landing toward late fall. Distribution is big-screen via Paramount.

Paramount also reignites 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 on the creative side for the first time since the early 2000s, a centerpiece the campaign will play up. As a summer counterprogrammer, this one will generate wide appeal through joke-first clips, with the horror spoof format fitting quick shifts to whatever shapes genre chatter that spring.

Universal has three defined pushes. SOULM8TE rolls out January 9, 2026, a technology-driven offshoot from the M3GAN universe from Atomic Monster and Blumhouse. The setup is elegant, loss-driven, and big-hook: a grieving man installs an virtual partner that shifts into a harmful mate. The date positions it at the front of a competition-heavy month, with marketing at Universal likely to replay off-kilter promo beats and brief clips that mixes devotion and chill.

On May 8, 2026, the studio dates an untitled Rob Savage horror film, widely assumed to be the feature developed under working titles in the family-in-peril vein, with Jessica Chastain top-lining. The dated slate currently lists it as an untitled Savage project, which sets up a public title to become an event moment closer to the opening teaser. The timing offers Universal a foothold in early May while larger tentpoles circle other weekends.

Rounding out the studio’s year, Jordan Peele’s untitled event film reserves October 23, 2026, a slot he has owned before. Peele’s pictures are presented as must-see filmmaker statements, with a teaser with minimal detail and a next wave of trailers that signal tone without plot the concept. The pre-Halloween slot opens a lane to saturate 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, partners with Sony internationally for Evil Dead Burn, dated July 24, 2026. Sébastien Vaniček directs, with Souheila Yacoub starring. The franchise has established that a gnarly, hands-on effects mix can feel prestige on a efficient spend. Look for a viscera-heavy summer horror charge that centers foreign markets, with Warner Bros. handling U.S. and Sony taking most offshore territories.

Sony’s horror bench is robust. The studio mounts two name-brand pushes in the back half. An untitled Insidious film premieres August 21, 2026, keeping a bankable supernatural brand active while the spin-off branch moves forward. Sony has repositioned on this title before, but the current plan keeps it in late summer, where the brand has been strong.

Then, on September 18, 2026, Resident Evil returns in what Sony is positioning as a fresh restart 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 explicit mandate to serve both longtime followers and first-timers. The fall slot allows Sony to build promo materials around world-building, and creature effects, elements that can stoke PLF interest and cosplayer momentum.

Focus Features, working with Working Title, pins a prestige bet on Christmas Day with Robert Eggers’ Werwulf on December 25, 2026. Set in 13th-century England, the film maintains the filmmaker’s run of period horror rooted in textural authenticity and historical speech, this time steeped in lycan lore. Focus Features has already staked the slot for a holiday release, a strong signal in Eggers as a specialty play that can platform and widen if early reception is supportive.

Streamers and platform exclusives

Platform windowing in 2026 run on established tracks. The studio’s horror films shift to copyright after a theater window then PVOD, a stair-step that elevates both opening-weekend urgency and viewer acquisition in the later window. Prime Video will mix third-party pickups with worldwide entries and brief theater runs when the data warrants it. Max and Hulu lean on their strengths in library engagement, using curated hubs, seasonal hubs, and curated rows to increase tail value on aggregate take. Netflix plays opportunist about first-party entries and festival wins, securing horror entries near their drops and turning into events launches with tight-window plans. Shudder, integrated with RLJE and Cineverse’s theatrical footprint, leverages a dual-phase of focused cinema runs and speedy platforming that converts buzz to sign-ups. That will count for Return to Silent Hill, which Cineverse is releasing in theaters January 23, 2026, before pressing niche channels in the months that follow.

Apple TV+ cherry-picks horror on a discrete basis. The platform has been willing to pick up select projects with accomplished filmmakers or star-led packages, then give them a modest theatrical in partnership with exhibitors to meet awards eligibility or to spark social proof before the streaming drop. Hulu and Disney’s domestic pipeline still leverages the 20th Century Studios slate, a critical input for ongoing engagement when the genre conversation ramps.

Indie and specialty outlook

Cineverse is curating a 2026 corridor with two label plays. Return to Silent Hill lands in January with Christophe Gans returning to his adaptation of Konami’s classic title. The sell is straightforward: the same moody, fog-choked atmosphere that made the original a cult favorite, upgraded for modern soundscapes and visuals. Later in the year, Wolf Creek: Legacy is expected in a fall window, with Greg McLean back steering his outback slasher universe. Cineverse has positioned a theatrical-first plan for the title, an healthy marker for fans of the ferocious series and for exhibitors seeking adult skew in the late stretch.

Focus will cultivate the auteur lane with Werwulf, marshalling the project through fall festivals if the cut is ready, then working the holiday frame to broaden. That positioning has helped for auteur horror with crossover potential. A24, NEON, IFC Films, RLJE, and Magnet have not dated many 2026 horror titles in public calendars yet, but their festival pipelines generally solidify after Sundance, Berlin, and Cannes. A plausible forecast is a selection of late-summer and fall platformers that can broaden if reception supports. Anticipate an A24 acquisition out of Sundance midnight slots and a NEON title that launches at Cannes before a September or October domestic bow. RLJE and Shudder often work hand in hand, using limited theatrical to seed evangelism that fuels their audience.

Series vs standalone

By volume, 2026 is weighted toward the legacy column. Scream 7, Insidious, Resident Evil, Evil Dead Burn, and Return to Silent Hill all harness franchise value. The caveat, as ever, is diminishing returns. The near-term solution is to position each entry as a re-toned entry. Paramount is elevating relationship and legacy in Scream 7, Sony is positioning a ground-zero restart for Resident Evil, and New Line’s Evil Dead Burn is leaning into a continental coloration from a ascendant talent. Those choices prove meaningful when the audience has so many options and social sentiment tilts quickly.

Non-franchise titles and auteur plays bring the oxygen. Jordan Peele’s October film will be marketed as a brand unto itself. Send Help, dated January 30, 2026 at 20th Century Studios, centers Rachel McAdams in a island survival premise with that teasing menace. SOULM8TE offers a clear, chilling tech hook. Werwulf roots in era detail and an stark tone. Even when the title is not based on known IP, the cast-creatives package is recognizable enough to turn curiosity into pre-sales and Thursday-night turnout.

Recent-year comps contextualize the approach. In 2023, a exclusive theatrical model that held distribution windows did not foreclose a dual release from performing when the brand was trusted. In 2024, art-forward horror popped in big-format auditoriums. In 2025, a return of a beloved infection saga underlined that global horror franchises can still feel reinvigorated when they angle differently and stretch the story. That last point is directly relevant to Sony’s 28 Years Later plan, which presses on January 16, 2026 with my review here 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, this time directed by Nia DaCosta from a script by Alex Garland. The twin-shoot approach, with chapters lensed back-to-back, builds a path for marketing to relate entries through character web and themes and to keep assets in-market without dead zones.

Behind-the-camera trends

The filmmaking conversations behind the 2026 entries indicate a continued bias toward tactile, location-specific craft. Lee Cronin has said his The Mummy will not echo any recent iteration of the property, a stance that reinforces the physical-effects bias he brought to Evil Dead Rise. The film finished filming and is tracking toward its April 17, 2026 date. Expect a campaign that centers creep and texture rather than CG roller-coasters, with the New Line and Blumhouse partnership allowing budget rigor.

Robert Eggers, meanwhile, has characterized Werwulf as the darkest project he has tackled, which tracks with a Middle Ages setting and period-faithful dialogue, a combination that can make for 3D sound and a earthy, elemental chill on the big screen. Focus will likely showcase this aesthetic in long-lead features and below-the-line spotlights before rolling out a initial teaser that elevates tone over story, a move that has delivered for the filmmaker’s past releases.

On the franchise side, Evil Dead Burn is aimed at gross-out texture, a signature of the series that plays abroad in red-band trailers and generates shareable scream clips from early screenings. Scream 7 hints at a meta pivot that brings back the core lead. Resident Evil will stand or stumble on creature craft and set design, which lend themselves to booth activations and managed asset releases. Insidious tends to be a soundstage showcase, with Dolby and Atmos spots that make the theatrical pitch feel compelling. Look for trailers that highlight hyper-detailed sound, deep-bass stingers, and hush beats that land in big rooms.

Month-by-month map

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 atmospheric change-up amid heavier IP. The month concludes with Send Help on January 30 via 20th Century Studios, a survival-and-paranoia piece from Sam Raimi that puts a star forward in Rachel McAdams. The competition here is stiff, but the tone spread affords lanes to each, and the five-week structure supports a clean run for each if word of mouth stays strong.

Post-January through spring prime the summer. Scream 7 lands February 27 with fan warmth. In April, The Mummy reawakens a classic monster on April 17, a spring frame that once was known for genre counterprogramming and now enables big openers. The untitled Rob Savage film on May 8 flows into summer while maintaining horror’s hold on early May weekends that are not claimed by superheroes or family tentpoles.

Summer heightens the contrast. Scary Movie 6 on June 12 is spoofy and broad, then Evil Dead Burn on July 24 supplies no-compromise intensity. The counterprogramming logic is sound. The spoof can win next to family tentpoles and animated films, while the mid-summer gorefest rewards older teenagers and genre diehards once the big Friday sequels have finished their premium pass.

August into fall leans franchise. The Insidious entry on August 21 gives the studio a spiritual-horror anchor where the brand has previously clicked. Resident Evil slides in after September 18, a bridge slot that still steps into Halloween marketing beats. The Peele event secures October 23 and will captivate cultural oxygen heading into Halloween weekend, likely augmented by a tease-and-hold strategy and limited asset reveals that favor idea over plot.

Prestige at year’s end. Werwulf on December 25 is a position that genre can thrive over the holidays when packaged as prestige-leaning horror. The distributor has done this before, rolling out carefully, then capitalizing on critics’ lists and awards-season craft coverage to stay top of mind into January. If the film scores with critics, the studio can expand in the first week of 2027 while benefiting from holiday season and gift-card burn.

Project briefs

Scream 7 (Paramount, February 27, 2026)
Director: Kevin Williamson. Top cast: Neve Campbell, with casting continuing to be revealed as production rolls. Logline: Sidney returns to re-engage a new Ghostface while the narrative rethreads the original film’s core. Rating: TBA. Production: Filming in Atlanta. Positioning: legacy-forward with modern snap.

SOULM8TE (Universal, January 9, 2026)
Producers: Atomic Monster, Blumhouse. Logline: A heartbroken man’s intelligent companion unfolds into something seductively lethal. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal is complete for an early-year bow. Positioning: techno-horror with feeling.

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 emerges in the ruins. Rating: TBA. Production: Filmed in tandem 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 returns to a fog-shrouded town in search of a lost love, only to confront a mutable reality and the town’s horrors. Rating: TBA. Production: Completed and U.S. theatrical set. Positioning: aura-driven 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 claw to survive on a uninhabited island as the control balance reverses and fear crawls. Rating: TBA. Production: Principal done. Positioning: A-list survival chiller from a master.

The Mummy (New Line, April 17, 2026)
Director: Lee Cronin. Producers: Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, Doppelgängers. Top cast: roles TBA in official materials. Logline: A renewed take that returns the monster to chill, shaped by Cronin’s practical craft and quiet dread. Rating: TBA. Production: Wrapped. Positioning: classic creature relaunch with signature touch.


Untitled Rob Savage Horror Film (Universal, May 8, 2026)
Director: Rob Savage. Top cast: Jessica Chastain. Logline: {A residential haunting premise that manipulates the fear of a child’s inconsistent senses. Rating: not yet rated. Production: in the can. Positioning: studio-financed and toplined haunting thriller.

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 parody reboot that pokes at today’s horror trends and true-crime crazes. Rating: pending. Production: filming slated for fall 2025. Positioning: broad summer counterprogrammer.

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 erupts, with an transnational twist in tone and setting. Rating: not yet rated. Production: principal photography in New Zealand. Positioning: hard-hitting R entry designed for premium formats.

Untitled Insidious Film (Sony, August 21, 2026)
Director: TBD per campaign. Top cast: forthcoming. Logline: The Further reopens, with a unlucky family tethered to lingering terrors. Rating: pending. Production: eying a summer shoot for late-summer slot. Positioning: dependable ghost-franchise slot that suits the brand.

Resident Evil (Sony, September 18, 2026)
Director: pending public reveal. Top cast: awaiting confirmation. Logline: A from-scratch rebuild designed to recalibrate the franchise from the ground up, with an center of gravity in true survival horror over action spectacle. Rating: forthcoming. Production: advancing in development with date locked. Positioning: canon-conscious reboot with mainstream reach.

Jordan Peele Untitled Event Film (Universal, October 23, 2026)
Director: Jordan Peele. Top cast: TBA. Logline: carefully shrouded. Rating: pending. Production: active. Positioning: director event, teaser-led.

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 bone-deep menace. Rating: TBD. Production: prepping toward a December 25 launch. Positioning: auteur prestige horror aimed at holiday corridor with crafts prospects.

Wolf Creek: Legacy (Cineverse, TBA 2026)
Director: Greg McLean. Top cast: John Jarratt expected to return as Mick Taylor. Logline: The Australian outback slasher returns, with a traditional theatrical release planned before platforming. Status: date in flux, fall expected.

Why 2026 makes sense

Three workable forces frame this lineup. First, production that downshifted or shifted in 2024 needed latitude on the slate. Horror can fill those gaps quickly because scripts often need fewer locations, fewer large-scale visual effects runs, and compressed schedules. Second, studios have become more disciplined about windows. Theatrical exclusivity remains the goal for most of these films, followed by PVOD and then platform streaming, a sequence that has consistently generated more than straight-to-streaming placements. Third, viral talk converts. The marketing teams behind these titles will activate turnkey scare beats from test screenings, select scare clips synced to Thursday previews, and experiential pop-ups that spark influencer coverage. It is a repeatable playbook because it pays off.

A fourth element is the programming calculus. Early-year family and superhero blocks are thinner in 2026, offering breathing room for genre entries that can take a weekend outright or function as the older-skew counter. January is the prime example. Four different flavors of horror will line up across five weekends, which gives each title a lane and limits cannibalization. Summer provides the other window. The parody can surf the early-summer animated and action swell, then the hard-R entry can take advantage of a late-July lull before back-to-school.

Financials, ratings, and sleeper angles

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 stealth-hit search 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 capitalize on those pockets. January could easily deliver the first sleeper overperformer of the year, and August into September gives Sony an avenue to hold screens with back-to-back supernatural IP while still leaving room for an indie breakout.

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

What the calendar feels like for audiences

From a moviegoer’s perspective, the 2026 horror year offers pace and range. January is a sampler, February delivers a legacy slasher, April reintroduces a Universal monster, May and June provide a back-to-back supernatural punch for date nights and group outings, July runs hard, August and September keep the supernatural momentum, October turns into a Jordan Peele event, and December invites a shadowed, literate nightmare. That is how you maintain buzz and butts in seats without cannibalizing your own titles. The pattern also supports social campaigns that can compound over time, using earlier releases to warm up the audience for bigger plays in the fall.

Exhibitors endorse the spacing. Horror delivers preview-night pops, efficient placements, and strong PLF uptake when the creative supports it. The 2026 slate has at least three titles that can warrant PLF, with The Mummy, Evil Dead Burn, and Werwulf all showcasing dimensionality, sound field, and cinematography that benefit from larger formats. The calendar also leaves room for specialty platformers to open in New York and Los Angeles, build reviews, and slide into national conversation as the fall progresses.

A Robust 2026 On Deck

Schedules slip. Ratings change. Casts evolve. But the spine of 2026 horror is sturdy. There is brand gravity where needed, creative ambition where it counts, 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 eleventh-hour specialty buy join the party. For now, the job is simple, deliver taut trailers, hold the mystery, and let the scares sell the seats.