2026’s Most-Watched Horror Film Surges as a Global Streaming Hit

2026 might go down as one of the most successful years for horror movies in some time. While nothing has quite stacked up to the box office might of The Odyssey or Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the genre dominated the conversation heading into the summer with one hit after another. Despite being by far the lowest-rated entry in franchise history, Scream 7 continued the franchise’s run of success by scaring up a $214 million global haul. Yet this was the year lower-budget YouTube creators put Hollywood on notice with original ideas that surpassed expectations and earned rave reviews. It began with Mark “Markiplier” Fischbach‘s adaptation of Iron Lung earning a surprising $51 million during a very limited self-distributed release in January before May rolled around and brought with it A24’s highest-grossing film ever at $394.1 million, Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons based on his own viral horror series.