Summary
The upcomingHostelshow is bringing together a long-awaited Hollywood pairing. The horror franchise began in 2005 with Eli Roth’s gory horror movie of the same name. After it grossed $82 million against its $4.8 million budget, the movie earned a 2007 sequel, which was also helmed by Roth. However, the franchise petered out relatively quickly, only earning one more installment, which was a direct-to-video sequel helmed byFrom Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Moneydirector Scott Spiegel that went direct-to-DVD in 2011.
In early June 2024,The Hollywood Reporterreported that aHosteltelevision show was in development that would be a “reinvention” of theEli Roth horror movie. The producing team, which includes Roth, describes the project as “elevated,” a factor that is being underscored by the casting oftwo-time Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti in an undisclosed major role. In addition to providing Giamatti with one of his first new projects after winning a Golden Globe for his performance in 2023’sThe Holdovers, this casting makes good on a team-up that has been in the works for nearly two decades.
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Paul Giamatti Was Supposed To Appear In The First Hostel
This casting announcement has brought Giamatti’s relationship to thecontroversialHostelfull circle, as he wasoriginally meant to have a cameo in the horror movie. During a 2013 interview withEntertainment Weeklywhile he was promotingJohn Dies at the End, Giamatti revealed that he and Eli Roth met in Prague when the director was shooting the project and the star was in production onThe Illusionist. During their conversation, they discussed Giamatti potentially playing a minor role inHostel.
Giamatti starred as a magician in 2006’sThe Illusionist, which grossed $87.8 million against a $16.5 million budget and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Cinematography.
TheHostelrole, in which Giamatti would have cameoed as a character committing one of the movie’s grisly murders, never came to fruition. However, out of that conversation, Roth became the connection that eventually linked Giamatti to director Don Coscarelli, which is how he got his role inJohn Dies at the Endhalf a decade later. Now, more than a full decade after the release of that movie,Giamatti is back in Roth’s orbit with this new television project, which will bring him back to the small screen after his post-Holdoversrole in HBO Europe’s30 Monedas.
It’s Not Known Who Giamatti Will Play In The Hostel TV Show (But He’d Be A Great Villain)
Giamatti Is An Actor With Several Iconic Villains On His Resume
It is currently unknown what character Giamatti will be playing inHostel. However, it would be ideal if the show cast him as a villain. In addition to playing iconic villains in movies including 2002’sBig Fat Liar, 2007’sShoot ‘Em Up, and 2014’sThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, Giamatti’s recentThe Holdoversrole could be the perfect lead-in into playing a villainous character in the horror show. While his character in the movie was more cantankerous than villainous, he oozed the kind of upper-class disdain that would beperfect for embodying the wealthy clientele of the franchise’s titular torture chamber.
Source: THR &EW
Hostel
Eli Roth’s Hostel is a horror film set in Europe where a group of tourists from America seeks a life-changing adventure during the height of their youth. When Paxton and Josh travel abroad, they enjoy the nightlife of Amsterdam until they find themselves locked out of their hostel. Invited by a man to stay with him, they follow him to Slovakia, tempted by two women that promise them a night they won’t forget. However, they wake up after their encounters to find themselves trapped in a torture dungeon and must do what it takes to escape and survive.
