Josh Hartnett's Horror Roles Power a 2026 Hollywood Comeback

Josh Hartnett stars in Netflix's new sea-monster series "Below" as a fisherman, the latest in a string of horror-adjacent roles that trade press has dubbed the "Hartnett-aissance," according to Page Six. The actor, who stepped back from Hollywood after rising to fame in the early 2000s, has rebuilt his profile through a run of genre films timed to a broader surge in horror's mainstream standing.

The pattern is not incidental. Hartnett's recent credits include M. Night Shyamalan's serial-killer thriller "Trap," the domestic thriller "Verity" opposite Anne Hathaway, and now "Below" on Netflix, Page Six reports. Each lands squarely in or near the horror genre, which the outlet notes has moved from niche to awards-season contender over the past two years.

What horror projects anchor the comeback?

Hartnett's genre work did not start in 2026. Page Six traces an earlier entry point to "Penny Dreadful," the Victorian-era horror series in which he played a gunslinger werewolf, and to "30 Days of Night," an earlier vampire feature. The throughline continues into his current slate: "Verity," a domestic thriller with horror trappings, and "Below," the Netflix sea-monster series in which Hartnett plays a grizzled fisherman with what Page Six describes as a distinct accent. Taken together, the roles form the spine of what the outlet calls his second act, built almost entirely around fear-adjacent material.

Why is horror having a mainstream moment right now?

Horror's commercial and critical rise predates Hartnett's return but now runs parallel to it. Page Six points to 1922's "Nosferatu" as evidence the genre has always drawn audiences, but says last year marked a shift: "Sinners," "Weapons" and "Frankenstein" all drew awards-circuit attention in a category that typically gets passed over. This year, the outlet reports, Zach Cregger's "Resident Evil" dominated the box office, while sleeper titles "Obsession" and "Backrooms" posted unexpected success that Page Six says helped make stars of actress Inde Navarrette and filmmakers Kane Parsons and Curry Barker.

Mike Flanagan, the prolific horror creator behind projects including "Carrie," told Page Six the industry is in a distinct up-cycle. "It makes me happy that horror has these cycles. It has these moments," Flanagan said, adding that "the genre is eternal" even as "we are in a particularly interesting moment right now, because I think we saw last year this incredible upswell in event horror." Flanagan's comment frames the current wave as cyclical rather than permanent, a distinction that matters for an actor like Hartnett whose comeback has leaned so heavily on the genre's current momentum.

Has Hartnett worked outside horror during his comeback?

Not exclusively. Page Six notes Hartnett also appeared in "The Bear" and "Oppenheimer" in 2025, both outside the horror category, showing the comeback has not been confined to a single genre even as horror-adjacent work has dominated the roster. The outlet frames those credits as evidence Hartnett has used the broader attention from genre work to land parts in acclaimed non-horror productions as well.

What's next to watch

• "Below" on Netflix: Hartnett's fisherman role in the streamer's new sea-monster series is the most recent entry in his horror-adjacent run, per Page Six.
• Horror's awards trajectory: Whether 2026 releases follow last year's pattern of horror titles drawing Oscar attention, after "Sinners," "Weapons" and "Frankenstein" broke through, per the outlet's reporting.
• Box-office signals: Continued strength from titles like "Resident Evil," "Obsession" and "Backrooms" as indicators of whether the genre's commercial surge persists into next year.
• Flanagan's next project: As a leading voice on horror's cyclical nature, Flanagan's upcoming work may serve as a marker for whether the current "event horror" wave he described continues.

For now, Hartnett's slate — from "Trap" and "Verity" to "Below" — tracks closely with the genre's broader climb back into the cultural mainstream, according to Page Six's reporting, even as his occasional non-horror credits suggest the comeback is not confined to one lane.