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Eli Roth Talks Cell, Hostel Piracy, Unethical Reviews
Friday, June 15, 2007


By: MrDisgusting
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As most of you know Eli Roth's Hostel: Part II leaked on the internet - and into the streets - weeks before it's theatrical release. From what we're told the film was DVD quality, but unfinished (with green screen even still in sight). Many unethical reviewers blasted the cut weeks before release, fans downloaded it, passed it around - and no one went to the theater. What sucks so bad about this whole situation is that this truly is going to hurt R-rated releases, and studios are going to play it safe with more PG-13 films. Inside director Eli Roth responds to the whole ordeal and talks the future of Cell, which might not see the light of day until the fall of 2008.


From Eli Roth's Blog:

"Hey Everyone,

I'm in Paris, doing press for the French release of Hostel Part II, and tonight I'm off to Rome for the last leg of the press tour. After that I'm going to take a long overdue break, since I've gone from one film to the next without stopping, just to recharge my brain a bit.

I want to thank all of you for your kind e-mails and incredible support for the film. However, piracy has become worse than ever now, and a stolen workprint (with uninished music, no sound effects, and no VFX) leaked out on line before the release, and is really hurting us, especially internationally. Piracy will be the death of the film industry, as it killed the music industry, and while it makes a smaller dent in huge movies like Spider Man 3, it really hurts films like mine, which have far less of an advertising and production budget. Not only that, critics have actually been REVIEWING the film based off the pirated copy, which is inexcusable. Some of these critics I have actually known for a few years, and while I wouldn't dignify them by mentioning them by name, I know who they are, as do the studios, and other filmmakers, and they will no longer have any access to any of my films.

What I'm saying is, this is your last chance to see one of my films for a while. If you haven't seen it, go now, because after next weekend the film will be gone from theaters. There are too many other summer movies coming in, so basically we get two weeks in cinemas, and then the film will live on DVD. I am not directing CELL any time soon, and I most likely will take the rest of the year to write my other projects. Which means I wouldn't shoot until the spring, and you wouldn't see a film directed by me in the cinemas until at least next fall. If everyone on my friends list went to see the film this weekend and brought a friend, it would make a huge difference. Bring a non-horror fan - try to convert them. It's the only way these films will live. But right now the R rated horror film is in serious jeopardy. Studios feel the public doesn't want them any more, and so they are only putting PG-13 films into production. The only way to counter this perception is to get out there and support R rated horror. It's the only message they'll hear. People love the movie, and even though it only cost $10 million dollars (as opposed to the other summer tentpoles which cost $300 million), and has already earned its money back, if it's not a massive money earner then they'll just continue to make the same PG-13 films everyone complained about a few years ago.

To counter piracy, fans can flood file sharing services with fake Hostel II downloads just so no one can ever actually get the movie, but the only thing that really makes a difference is supporting the movie in the theaters. Also - the theater OWNERS know this as well. If horror movies aren't bringing in customers, they're not going to program them. If we are going to send them a message, we have to do it with our wallets, and we have to do it now. I've done all I can to make a great film for the fans, as violent and bloody and fun as possible. The rest is up to you guys...

Thanks again for all your support,

Eli"


Source: Eli Roth MySpace

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Read 30 User Comments

cubbiechris
1:31pm, June 15, 2007

I think it tanked at the BO because the first one wasn't all that good. You can fool an audience once, but not twice.


Zombie Hell
1:36pm, June 15, 2007

Actually, I don't know what was expected when you release it up against all the big budget shit out there. He had to know it would sink. But really, you can't fool an audience twice? Then how do you explain star wars 1-3?


BLOODYJACKERS
1:47pm, June 15, 2007

The real reason it tanked is because the studios who market these films, should be shot. Because you don't put a horror film, along with OCEANS 13 and SURFS UP! YOu just don't. Familes are the targets of most films. Its said yes, that eli's work did not pay off, but like cubbiechris said, the first one was not that great. and i don't know what zombie Hell is talking about, star wars are blockbusters, hostel 1 and 2 are films, not blockbusters. The market people need to put these films in the right slates. because they will not be good along with a blockbuster.


cw1925
1:56pm, June 15, 2007

I partly blame Bloody-Disgusting and Movieweb, as well as any of the other news sites out there for this. You guys advertised it, what the hell were you thinking? Did you actually think people wouldn't download this movie after pleading your viewers to not download it? Honestly now. Use some common sense the next time you write a story. Understanding that you didn't provide a link and say "don't go to <such and such> site because it's just wrong for you to do that", but people are greedier than ever these days and will stop at nothing to get the free, downgraded stuff. If it's free, easy to get, and if they know about it, they will find it. All it takes is a Google search. I knew from the minute you guys "advertised"... ahem (conscience is telling me to be politically correct)... "did a news story" about the bootleg being available the movie would go downhill. I'm done here, and I wouldn't be surprised if B-D censored me.


ghostvirus
2:41pm, June 15, 2007

Roth is being an idiot here. First of all, the Hostel movies are mediocre to begin with. They're nothing new, they're not imaginative, and they're little more than gore for gore's sake. Second, what was he thinking, releasing this film right before shit like Ocean's Thirteen and Transformers are released? Hostel 2 was destined to get bumped out of theaters fast. Finally, a bootleg copy of an unfinished film does NOT ruin ticket sales. People discovering a movie is shitty before it's released ruins ticket sales.


specimen700102
2:43pm, June 15, 2007

what do you mean the 1st one wasn't very good, it was brilliant and the 2nd ones brilliant too!


gorebath
4:06pm, June 15, 2007

actually, it's the cost of fucking movie ticket prices that's reuining Hollywood. They've more than doubled the cost of a ticket since minimum wage was hiked up. A family of six spending close to a hundred bucks(that's gonna fill up there gas tank for a week) would sure as shit buy a bootleg for 5 bucks and enjoy it at home without some cocksucker with a baby 3 rows behind you dealing with a baby or talking with his girlfriend.


b-dfan
4:08pm, June 15, 2007

I have to agree with cw1925. I love BD and its the best site ever, but what were you guys thinking thousands of people read these articles and you doing a story about it is just advertising the bootleg. Like a found out about through you guys. Not that i downloaded it i want the theatrical experience.


JGrayland
4:32pm, June 15, 2007

Blaming Bloody for hurting the film is pretty stupid. It was a news story that others were covering. I dont think Eli would have allowed almost all of the bloody staff to go to the premiere if he thought that mentioning (and blasting) the bootleg was as bad as someone reviewing it (and slamming it to boot) based on a subpar illegal copy. All torrent sites have a list of all the new things available to download - it's not like it was hard to find. And if you werent a usual torrent user, and made downloading hostel 2 your introduction into it, then you're just a sad piece of shit.


Slasher Freak
4:38pm, June 15, 2007

It was a stupid thing to release this film in the summer. This would had done great money at the beginning of the year or in spring.


itiparanoid13
5:00pm, June 15, 2007

Why do people blame the failure of movies on small things like this? It's like everyone else said, the summer opening hurt the movie. It probably didn't help that most people knew what they were in for with Hostel 2, and they didn't want to see that level of extreme gore again even though this film didn't have it. I do have to agree about blaming sites like this for pirating. By doing that, you're basically begging people to go do it. I'm a big fan of this site, but you should know better. And to be honest, I guarantee you a great majority of people that aren't horror movie fans thought "Oh christ, another Hostel movie? What's the point?" I know most of the people I talked to thought that. I thought the movie was OK, but that's just because I'm a horror fan. It's time to stop blaming things that aren't true just to be in good graces with your news feeds. Look at your product, look at what it's against, and compare. Bootlegging is not hurting that badly. I will gladly see a decent PG-13 Ring or Grudge movie than a bad R rated Hostel movie. It's about the final product, and I'm sorry to say, but I really enjoyed movies like Grudge 2 and the Ring movies more than this one.


b-dfan
5:13pm, June 15, 2007

Hostel 2 will probably make around $25 Million on DVD sales. So lets just hope those dumb bootleggers will throw there cr@ppy burnt versions and buy the DVD!


tymishu78
5:49pm, June 15, 2007

I agree with Eli. I know a lot of people hate his work but there are other movies that I think most would agree that were great. The big one being Grindhouse. Even at 3 hours it should of done way better. Horror fans in general are a tough crowd to please. They complain when the market is flooded with PG-13 horror movies, Remakes, sequels...etc. Meanwhile great movies fall through the cracks. I loved Cabin Fever and Hostel. I have yet to see Hostel 2 yet and judging by what Eli has said I will probably have to wait until DVD to see it! Which sucks. What's crazy is a movie like Disturbia ( Which was decent ) can get people to the movies. What alot of people did not know is that Disturbia was in fact a remake of Rear Window. To me Horror is suppose to be graphic, scary, bloody and beyond the imagination. It's crazy to hear supposed horror fans say that Eli is not good but if you look at past horror films, Eli's films are completely influenced by them. As far as him making a bad movie? What classic horror director has not made a bad movie?


bastardson
7:06pm, June 15, 2007

man that fuckin sucks, is this the end of horror?....or just eli roth LOL!


mikewilliamson
7:38pm, June 15, 2007

Just as people overestimate the power of internet advertising, people also overestimate the damage of internet piracy. Downloading file share copies of bootlegged movies is simply not in the general language of Joe-Internet-User. Did Hostel 2 lose some revenue because of the leak? Sure. Probably a tiny, negligible amount. People still actually want to see new movies in the theatre, ESPECIALLY young people. It's the older generation who is cocooning at home with DVD, believe it or not, afraid to brave the ever more noisy and uncomfortable cinema experince (thanks to all the KIDS there). No, Hostel 2 did not underperform because of some bootleg DVD. That's honestly ridiculous, and is just an excuse. A scapegoat. Also, whether or not people liked the movie is irrelevant, too. It wasn't screened in advance for critics, and horror movies never get good reviews anyways. If Hostel 2 had legitimately piqued the public's interest, they would have gone. I don't even think it's oversaturation of "torture" films in the market that kept people away. What I think really hurt Hostel 2 is the release date. It suffered the same demise as LAND OF THE DEAD last summer. The fact of the matter is, summer is a time when people's mindset is sunny and carefree. They have been taught to look for big, escapist entertainment. While Hostel 2 may be sunny and carefree for those who visit this website, it takes more than horror bloggers to propel a movie into the top 5. If Hostel 2 had been released in late August or September, it would have done twice the business. Guaranteed. Now watch...Captivity will tank, too. But NOT because R rated horror is dead. it will tank for two reasons: A middle of summer release and the fact that it is PAINFULLY obvious the film is a retread of what we've seen in SAW and HOSTEL. People have already seen Captivity without even having to see it. But people really needn't jump on the doomsday "R rated horror is dead" bandwagon. Everything is cyclical. Horror has never left us, no matter what media tells us. It just does what it does best...Hides in the closet to strike when you least expect it.


el cucuy
1:31am, June 16, 2007

He's right about the bootleg movies. I didn't like any of the of the Hostels films but if it wasn't for bootlegs I think Grindhouse would've made 100 mill but about the bootlegs I know about 10 people that have the studio copy of the film and it exactly like the movie in the theaters. But good to Eli in his next films


francesco
4:31am, June 16, 2007

300 made a lot and it was R-rating. Freddy vs jason, and texas and saw made a lot of money, too. I think people is getting tyred about horrors. and that's very bad or...hostel sucks. tarantino's grindhouse made a lot of money here in italy, and it came out in a very low season. Sooooo probably it's beacuse americans haven't good taste on movies! ;-)


South_park300
10:27am, June 16, 2007

I love how Eli is threatening us being all like "If you don't see Hostel II, you won't see a movie made by me for a very long time" THANK GOD


Rabidmuskrat
10:35am, June 16, 2007

Hostel 2 tanked b/c the movie was NOT good. Its funny that Eli Roth (like all of his movies) makes a terrible movie and blames piracy for it. Eli, if your movie was good, people would still have went to see it in the theatres (like I unfortunately did.) Piracy is not killing the film industry, bad filmmaking is killing the film industry.


deadfactory
11:29am, June 16, 2007

How sad, all the excuses in the world from Roth, maybe the fact that the movie tanked, is in it's quality, but oh no, the great Eli Roth wasn't to blame, he's a great director, according to HIM. Rabidmuskrat said it, the movie was bad, so nobody saw it, don't say the R rated horror film is in serious jeopardy, Halloween is going to prove that in august. Stop making shitty excuses roth.


happykorn
1:32pm, June 16, 2007

If the movie wasn't so horrendously bad it might have done better, and that ending was stupid and not the "epic" that their ads were making it out to be...I like Roth, and I liked Fever, and Hostel 1 but pirates pay for things that are worth it, and this just wasn't even worth pirating...


Jason X-2
4:15pm, June 16, 2007

What ego. Blaming the failure of your film entirely on piracy. Did you ever consider it's because no one wanted to see your film anyway?


Teddy T
8:21pm, June 16, 2007

Nevermind that the movie was already online before it was release, this movie had no chance going up against the summer blockbusters to begin with. If Eli and whatever movie studios are worried about their movies doing bad internationally then why don't they try releasing their movies worldwide on the same. If the Saw movies and Captivity can have worldwide releases why not movies released by Sony (Hostel 1 & 2) and Disney (Dimension's Grindhouse).


ten31
10:59pm, June 16, 2007

Eli should take his head out of his ass. The reason why the movie tanked was because it was pure shite(and yes I did pay to see this fucking horrorid flick in the theatre). It was a carbon copy of the first flick with female leads being tortured instead of guys. The surprise begining was choppy at best which had no shock value what so ever. Learn to direct something suspensful Eli and you might have something to talk about. It's pretty sad that his trailer Thanksgiving has been more entertaining than most of his features.


ten31
11:05pm, June 16, 2007

Lastly I think Ule Bowle has some stiff competition for the shitiest director thinking he's great award.


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