And more info on his current and upcoming projects
ShockTillYouDrop.com’s brother site ComingSoon.net spent some time earlier today talking to director Eli Roth about his dramatic acting role in Quentin Tarantino’s WWII movie Inglourious Basterds. Anyone worried acting opposite Brad Pitt might convince Roth to switch careers shouldn’t fret, because he has a lots of projects he’s been developing both to direct himself as well as producing others.
That said, you won’t be seeing him making any more “Hostel” movies, and he’s no way involved with the plans to make a direct-to-DVD 3-quel to his best-known film. “That’s another one like ‘Cabin Fever 2,'” he told us. “The studio had made a lot of money with it so they want to keep going, and the fans, there’s demand for it, and great. If I started something and other people want to continue it, go for it. I’m just not involved in anyway. There’s no negativity about it. I just said, ‘I put everything in my life for three years into these movies. I’ve said everything I have to say with it. I feel very lucky I got to make them and the fans responded the way they did, and if you guys want to continue it, great, go ahead.'”
“I think if it’s a great movie, what’s wrong with a great movie, whether it’s #1, 2, 3, 4?” he mused when asked whether the reception to Hostel: Part II turned him off to sequels. “I remember I loved ‘Friday the 13th Part IV. I didn’t expect that movie to be that great. I remember loving ‘Nightmare on Elm Street III’, going ‘Wow, I had no idea’ and then of course now, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, Frank Darabont and Chuck Russell, of course.’ But I’m all for sequels, as long as it’s a well-made movie, I don’t care if it’s a sequel, a prequel, a remake or an original film. If it’s well-made film and it’s entertaining and I got my money’s worth, then I love it, I’m all for it.”
Roth isn’t enough of a fan of remakes to direct the remake of Tobe Hooper’s Funhouse he’s been developing for Universal. “It’s a film that I enjoy that I think it would be fantastic to remake and do it really really gory with a huge body count, but there’s no films that I’m interested in personally remaking. I have too many original stories that I want to do. I’m not saying I wouldn’t but there’s no remake that has trumped any of those other ideas.”
We also asked Roth whether the movie based on Stephen King’s Cell was still happening, since we hadn’t heard much about it since Roth was doing press for Hostel: Part II two years ago. “I walked off ‘Cell’ kind of quietly,” he admitted. “There was just sort of a difference in opinion on how to make to film and what the story should be, and there’s a different direction the studio wants to go with it. It was very friendly because it’s the Weinsteins, they made ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and we’re all friends. I said, ‘I’m not really interested in doing the film this way. You guys go ahead and I’m going to make my own films.’ I’ve also learned that I really am only interested in directing original stories that I write, that’s another thing I learned through that whole process.”
He wouldn’t say much about the $60 million sci-fi epic Endangered Species that will be his next movie, including whether a studio might get involved in the financing of his biggest budget movie to date–“all his deals are under wraps”–but he’s looking to start casting to shoot in the Fall, depending on the locations and weather, which might push the start back to next spring.
In the meantime, Roth is producing a kung fu movie with rapper RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan directing, called The Man with the Iron Fist; they’ll continue working on the script once RZA gets back from tour so they can start that. Also, he’s co-producing the Daniell Stamm exorcism movie Cotton with partner Eric Newman for their company Arcade, which is currently in post-production, so maybe we’ll see that at one of next year’s festivals.
Look for our full interview with Roth over on ComingSoon.net something in the next few weeks before the release of Inglourious Basterdson August 21, 2009.
Source: Edward Douglas
