Hostel Massacres the Box Office

HOSTEL is a terrifying and disturbing place, except at the North American box office.  Lionsgate's and Screen Gems' riveting horror thriller opened to an estimated $20.1 million this weekend, ranking #1 at the domestic box office, it was announced today by Lionsgate Films Releasing President Tom Ortenberg.  The shockingly intense film, directed by Eli Roth (Lionsgate's CABIN FEVER) and presented by Quentin Tarantino, galvanized audiences on 2,195 screens across America for a $9,157per screen average.

HOSTEL is Lionsgate's second #1 horror film at the North American box office in the past three months.  SAW II opened to $31.2 million on Halloween weekend 2005 on its way to a domestic box office gross of approximately $87million.  It will debut on DVD on February 14. Lionsgate noted that HOSTEL outperformed the $18 million opening weekend of the original SAW, which went on to gross $55 million at the North American box office in fall 2004.

"Eli Roth has once again delivered a horror film that is gory enough to delight hardcore horror fans and intelligent enough to attract wider audiences," said Ortenberg. "HOSTEL plays to one of Lionsgate's sweet spots -- releasing some of the most provocative and disturbing genre pictures in the marketplace.  Based on moviegoer reaction, we are delighted to have the first theatrical box office phenomenon of 2006."

Added Roth, "I feel so incredibly lucky that the public responded to a film this intense. It's an honor to be listed in the same box office column with my idols Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.  I'm so grateful to my fantastic producing team, and to the incredible marketing and theatrical team at Lionsgate and Clint Culpepper at Screen Gems for working with me to make this possible."

If your in doubt as to whether this movie is that good just look at the 3 top reviews for Hostel on our Site.

Hostel Review by, Tim Hannigan
Hostel is screening as part of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival. While its “official” premiere is midnight tonight (if you can get to Toronto drop ev...

Hostel Review by, Hakeem
Eli Roth has a sick mind, very sick. Hostel is his follow up to 2002's Cabin Fever, a movie I did not like, but it had some nice ideas and very nice gore. Now this one, this one is something else, thi...

Writer-director-producer Roth collaborated on the film with executive producers Tarantino, Scott Spiegel and Boaz Yakin, and producers Mike Fleiss (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Chris Briggs.  HOSTEL tells the story of two adventurous American college buddies who are backpacking through Europe and are lured to an out-of-the-way hostel in Slovakia.  Quickly, they find themselves trapped in an increasingly sinister situation, discovering that it is as wide and as deep as the darkest, sickest recess of human nature itself -- if they survive. The film stars Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Barbara Nedeljakova and Jana Kaderabkova.

The strong debut of HOSTEL capped off several recent weeks that have highlighted the breadth and quality of Lionsgate product.  The Company's critically-acclaimed box office hit CRASH has now garnered important nominations from the major guilds, including a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement, three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Male Performance in a Supporting Role (Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon) and Outstanding Performance by a Cast, a Producers Guild Award nomination for Best Theatrical Motion Picture and a Writers Guild
Award nomination for Best Screenplay.  CRASH has also been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Performance by An Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Screenplay, five Broadcast Film Critics nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director and Best Writer), andit was named the #1 film of 2005 by film critic Roger Ebert.

In addition, Lionsgate's hit television series WEEDS, the highest-rated series on Showtime, received nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, including Best TV Series -- Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress (Mary-Louise Parker) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Elizabeth Perkins), a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Actress in a Comedy Series and a Writers Guild Award nomination.  Another hit Lionsgate television series, WILDFIRE, made its second season debut on ABC Family last week with its highest ratings ever and the highest ratings in the network's history.  The first entry from Lionsgate's documentary division, GRIZZLY MAN, released on DVD last week, has been named to 85 year-end top 10 film lists and has been named best nonfiction film of 2005 by the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics Association and the LA Film Critics Association.