The Hostel franchise is expanding with an upcoming television adaptation that is set to bring the team behind the slasher classic. Award-winning actor Paul Giamatti will star in the planned series, with Eli Roth, Chris Briggs, and Mike Fleiss returning to once again revisit the grotesque and extremely violent film franchise.
Giamatti has closed a deal to star in the unexpected chilling comeback of the Hostel franchise, following his stellar performance as Paul Hunham in Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Roth, Briggs, and Fleiss will executive produce the project under Fifth Season, with Roth set to direct. Roth will also pen the script along with Briggs.
Roth served as the writer and director of the first two Hostel installments, which he also executive produced alongside Fleiss and Briggs. Giamatti, on the other hand, will be starring in a key role.
While known for starring in a number of acclaimed features, Giamatti also has impressive television credits, including John Adams, Billions, Too Big to Fail, and 30 Coins. This is in addition to some of his voice-acting credits in shows like The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness, and Benjamin Franklin, among others.
What to expect in the Hostel TV series?
Though the Hostel series is currently in development, it is already being described as a “modern adaptation” and an “elevated thriller,” per THR. The outlet also reported that the television series will be a “reinvention” of a horror franchise that has spawned two more iterations.
It is still unsure whether the series will come to fruition, but with the original team behind the franchise on board to adapt the film series for the small screen, audiences can expect a bloody television series coming their way.
The original film, released in 2006, centered on the three American backpackers’ summer trip to Europe. Their stay in a Slovakian hostel, however, had drawn them into an organization that kills and tortures people for the fun of it. The film then spawned a sequel in 2007, titled Hostel: Part II. Over four years later, the Scott Spiegel-directed Hostel: Part III was released.
The 2006 film starred Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Rick Hoffman, Jennifer Lim, and more.
