The Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2026

In Danny Boyle’s revival of the post-apocalyptic horror franchise, the next installment, The Bone Temple, picks up where things left off for Ralph Fiennes’ Dr. Ian Kelson in last year’s 28 Years Later. After the revival proved successful both critically and at the box office, anticipation is built even further, as the film marks Cillian Murphy’s first return to the franchise since the 2002 original, 28 Days Later — and sets things up for his larger role in the future fifth movie. Nia DaCosta (Hedda, Candyman, The Marvels) directs, from a script by 28 Years Later writer Alex Garland.

Sam Raimi and Rachel McAdams both returning to horror — and it being Raimi’s first original movie since 2009’s Drag Me to Hell? That alone should get you excited. Twenty-one years after starring opposite Cillian Murphy in Wes Craven’s Red Eye, McAdams is back in the genre, this time alongside buzzy co-star Dylan O’Brien, with the pair playing the only survivors on a deserted island after their plane crashes en route to a company event. The 1981 Evil Dead filmmaker Raimi directs from a script by Freddy vs. Jason writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, and when The Hollywood Reporter exclusively revealed in 2019 that the project was in the works, it was described as “Misery meets Cast Away.”

The seventh film in the Scream franchise welcomes back Neve Campbell as final girl Sidney Prescott after she sat out Scream VI due to a salary dispute, with Courteney Cox also returning alongside David Arquette and Matthew Lillard — the latter two having previously died in the franchise. The film also features a major shake-up in the cast, as Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who led the last two installments, are not returning. Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original Scream as well as Scream 2 and Scream 4, directs and writes Scream 7, which sees Sidney and her daughter attempting to escape a new killer, as revealed in the film’s first trailer. With franchise favorites coming back from the dead and a new Ghostface killer — or killers — targeting Sidney, it shapes up to be a thrilling next chapter from Paramount Pictures.

Check out everything The Hollywood Reporter knows about Scream 7 here.

Warner Bros.’ The Bride! is a punk spin on the classic Bride of Frankenstein story. This time, Christian Bale plays the monster, Frankenstein, while Jessie Buckley stars as his bride. Maggie Gyllenhaal directs the picture, marking her second feature film and aspiring to do something “radical” after the Oscar-nominated The Lost Daughter. Her inspiration for the movie came from seeing a man with a tattoo of the bride of Frankenstein on his arm at a party. After that, she watched the film and assured that, unlike the original Bride of Frankenstein, which gave the title character only about three minutes of screen time, her Bride “could not be more different.” Also included in the cast are Maggie’s brother and Academy Award-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal, as well as Peter Sarsgaard, Penélope Cruz, Annette Bening and Julianne Hough.

After Samara Weaving’s Grace survived the deadly game her husband’s family put her through on their wedding night in 2019’s Ready or Not, she’s back for another round. Now, she’s trying to outrun four rival families competing for power with her sister Faith, played by Kathryn Newton, a fellow Scream Queen with credits including Freaky, Lisa Frankenstein and Abigail. Searchlight Pictures’ Ready or Not 2: Here I Come also stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood, Kevin Durand and David Cronenberg.

Another take on Universal’s iconic monster The Mummy is coming to the big screen this year — though it’s not the version featuring Brendan Fraser’s return, which is in the works. This iteration is being directed by Evil Dead Rise filmmaker Lee Cronin and stars Midsommar actor Jack Reynor alongside May Calamawy, Laia Costa, May Elghety and Veronica Falcón. Horror legend James Wan is producing through his Atomic Monster banner, alongside Blumhouse and Cronin’s company, Doppelgängers. “This will be unlike any Mummy movie you ever laid eyeballs on before,” Cronin said in a 2024 statement to THR when the project was first announced. “I’m digging deep into the earth to raise something very ancient and very frightening.”

Irish writer and director Damian McCarthy is following up on his feature debut Oddity (2024) with another supernatural horror thriller. Severance’s Adam Scott stars in this Neon film in which his character, Ohm, a reclusive novelist, travels to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes and encounters disturbing visions.

All eyes were on young filmmaker Curry Barker’s Obsession at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Barker’s first feature film — following a background in making $800 YouTube movies — stars Michael Johnston as a music store employee who uses a supernatural toy to make his crush return his feelings. The plan backfires when she becomes dangerously obsessed. Distributed by Focus Features and executive produced by Blumhouse, the film was made for under $1 million and is expected to gross potentially more than $15 million.

While yes, this film isn’t exactly horror, it spoofs the most popular horror movies of its time, which feels close enough — and hey, they’re fun, too. Scary Movie 6 arrives 13 years after Scary Movie 5, with franchise staples Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall and Anna Faris returning to lead the cast. All three Wayans brothers — Marlon, Shawn and Keenen Ivory — along with Rick Alvarez, wrote the script and are producing. Marlon teased which films could be spoofed last year, but regardless of what makes the cut, this one should be a feel-good time where you won’t need to clutch your popcorn quite as tightly as you would during a traditional horror flick.

Sébastien Vaniček’s Evil Dead Burn appears to be a promising return for the brutal franchise. While little is known about the film’s premise, it will be a standalone entry, making it more approachable for newcomers. Sam Raimi, who directed the first three films in the franchise, is producing the project and selected Vaniček to direct after seeing his 2023 debut, Infested. The film stars Souheila Yacoub, Hunter Doohan and Luciane Buchanan.

After Patrick Wilson — who also led The Conjuring franchise, which concluded last year — directed and starred in the fifth Insidious film, effectively wrapping up his character’s story, it’ll be interesting to see how the sixth installment expands the Insidious universe. The film, from Blumhouse and Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems and Stage 6 Films, stars franchise veteran Lin Shaye alongside Amelia Eve, who joins the feature in a lead role. Jacob Chase (Come Play) is directing and co-wrote the script with David Leslie Johnson, whose credits include The Orphan and The Conjuring films two through four. And for those wondering whether this will be the final chapter, Shaye has already made it clear it won’t be, saying so in a Facebook post last year.

Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries stars as the title character, Clayface — a shape-shifting Batman villain — in the third film under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DCU. Described as a body-horror feature, the movie centers on a B-movie actor who becomes a living mass of clay after injecting himself with a substance to stay relevant. Naomi Ackie also stars. Speak No Evil director James Watkins is set to helm the project, with Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House) writing the script.

Zach Cregger is on a roll. After making a name for himself with original horror hits like Barbarian and Weapons, his next project has him writing and directing a new adaptation of the Resident Evil video game series for Sony. Rather than following the storylines of the previous film franchise, Cregger is aiming to make his take a love letter to the games themselves. Weapons actor Austin Abrams is also reuniting with Cregger in a leading role.

This Jessica Chastain–led supernatural horror film is an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel Incidents Around the House. The story follows an eight-year-old girl named Bela, played by Arabella Olivia Clark (The Housemaid), who is haunted by a sinister entity attempting to possess her by exploiting her family’s problems. Rob Savage (Host, The Boogeyman) is directing from a screenplay by Nathan Elston (Succession). James Wan’s Atomic Monster is producing in association with Spin a Black Yarn for Universal Pictures. Additional cast members include Jay Duplass, Dichen Lachman and Sean Kaufman.

Following the success of 2024’s Nosferatu, filmmaker Robert Eggers has re-teamed with Focus Features to helm Werwulf, a werewolf film set in 13th-century England. Nosferatu co-stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Lily-Rose Depp and Willem Dafoe will reunite with Eggers, who is writing and producing the feature alongside Sjón (The Northman). Eggers, whose previous films include The Lighthouse, The Witch and The Northman, said last year that Werwulf is “the darkest thing I’ve ever written. By far.”