Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: eli roth, Hostel

Hostel: Peacock Developing Eli Roth, Paul Giamatti Series Adaptation

A year after it was announced, Eli Roth, Chris Briggs, and Mike Fleiss's Paul Giamatti-starring Hostel series is in development at Peacock.

Published Thu, 31 Jul 2025 11:30:04 -0500

by Ray Flook

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A little over a year ago, the news hit that Eli Roth, Chris Briggs, and Mike Fleiss were developing a Hostel television series that would serve as a "reinvention" of the 2005 film and its two follow-up films. Stemming from Fifth Season (Apple TV+'s Severance), Paul Giamatti (Billions, The Holdovers) was attached to star, taking on a "key role" in the "modern adaptation" of the horror film franchise that is being eyed as an "elevated thriller." Well, the project has found a home at Peacock, with Roth set to write, direct, and executive produce. Briggs and Fleiss will also serve as executive producers. No further details on the project, with today's news first reported exclusively by Variety.

During a 2005 interview with New York that also included Quentin Tarantino, Roth was asked if he aimed to include societal commentary in his films. "Well, I think you're really talking about that feeling people get when somebody's doing a terrible job of it, trying to cram a message down your throat. At 'Crash,' I couldn't breathe. But you know, a lot of people read 'Cabin Fever' as a metaphor for AIDS. I'm just not going to spell it out." With his work – including Hostel – Roth has a fundamental goal running through it all.

"Look, I just want to scare you. But maybe you watch it a second time, and you see that all the stuff the American backpackers are saying about Amsterdam hookers in the beginning of the movie could be said about the Americans at the end. That this slaughterhouse they end up in is a demented version of Amsterdam's brothels and the movie's really about exploitation." As for what makes the concept behind the film so terrifying for so many, Roth offers a real-world analogy. "I was really just thinking about how terrifying those Al Qaeda videos are—that idea that no matter what you say, they're still going to torture and kill you. And I thought, Wouldn't it be more terrifying if it wasn't a political act but a sexual act? Like those Americans paying for a hooker in Amsterdam."

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