Horror movie maestro Eli Roth says he is furious that his movie Hostel: Part II is believed to be the most downloaded film of all time.
A copy of Hostel: Part II was leaked onto the internet before it had been theatrically released anywhere in the world and recorded a record number of downloads.
The filmmaker claims that not only was it illegally downloaded by millions of people around the world, but in countries like Mexico and Brazil where a downloaded version was widely available, the film did not even have a theatrical release.
The film was not released theatrically in New Zealand because the Office of Film and Literature Classification ruled that a scene was objectionable and had to be censored for New Zealand.
The film's New Zealand distributor, Sony pictures (NZ), decided against censoring the film for a theatrical release for financial reasons.
Roth told MTV: "I'm furious. Here's the thing: It's real money.
"People say, 'Oh, you can't get mad at people downloading.' Well then, when are you supposed to get mad? If you don't speak out against it now, then when?"
Roth also claimed his target movie audience were the very persons responsible for the majority of downloads.
"The audience that's specifically doing (the downloading) is 17, 18, 19 - it's the college kids, and that's my audience," says Roth.
"If the fans are going to get pissed (at me), they're going to get pissed. I don't want those fans."
A copy of Hostel: Part II was leaked onto the internet before it had been theatrically released anywhere in the world and recorded a record number of downloads.
The filmmaker claims that not only was it illegally downloaded by millions of people around the world, but in countries like Mexico and Brazil where a downloaded version was widely available, the film did not even have a theatrical release.
The film was not released theatrically in New Zealand because the Office of Film and Literature Classification ruled that a scene was objectionable and had to be censored for New Zealand.
The film's New Zealand distributor, Sony pictures (NZ), decided against censoring the film for a theatrical release for financial reasons.
Roth told MTV: "I'm furious. Here's the thing: It's real money.
"People say, 'Oh, you can't get mad at people downloading.' Well then, when are you supposed to get mad? If you don't speak out against it now, then when?"
Roth also claimed his target movie audience were the very persons responsible for the majority of downloads.
"The audience that's specifically doing (the downloading) is 17, 18, 19 - it's the college kids, and that's my audience," says Roth.
"If the fans are going to get pissed (at me), they're going to get pissed. I don't want those fans."
More on this story:
- Hostel: Part II too horrific for NZ censors
- Hostel: Part II trailer
Fri, 14 Sep 2007
source: newshub archive
