Paul Giamatti to Star in ‘Hostel’ TV Series From Eli Roth
After earning acclaim and an Oscar nomination for his work in the sweet and emotional “The Holdovers,” Paul Giamatti is moving onto something decidedly darker: the world of “Hostel.”
Giamatti will star in a “Hostel” TV series for Eli Roth, Chris Briggs, Mike Fleiss and Fifth Season, TheWrap has learned. The show is currently in development and does not yet have a network or streamer attached, but it’s described as a modern “reinvention” of the horror franchise that first kicked off in 2006. And yes, Roth’s trademark kills will remain.
Roth will direct the TV show and is cowriting the script with Briggs, while Roth, Briggs and Fleiss – all of whom worked on the film franchise – are executive producers.
Further plot and character details are unknown at this time but Roth’s 2006 film “Hostel” was noteworthy for its graphic depiction of violence as it followed college students traveling across Europe who ended up in a hostel where rich people paid to torture other humans.
The film spawned two sequels and came during a wave of realistically violent horror films like “Saw.” Roth wrote and directed 2007’s “Hostel: Part II” while Scott Spiegel steered the direct-to-DVD “Hostel: Part III,” which was released in 2011.
The first “Hostel” grossed $82 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of just $4.8 million, while the sequel dipped to a worldwide gross of $35.6 million.
Giamatti is coming off some of the best reviews of his career for “The Holdovers,” but “Hostel” would be far from his first foray into television. He starred in Showtime’s “Billions” for seven seasons, wrapping that series last October.
Next up for Roth is the “Borderlands” video game adaptation, which Lionsgate is releasing in theaters this summer.
Giamatii is repped by UTA, Kipperman Management and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
THR first reported the news of the “Hostel” TV series.
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