Eli Roth Talks Going From Guard to Director

Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Howard took a call from Eli Roth, the director whose new movie “Hostel” debuted at number one at the box office last weekend, and who also was responsible for guarding Howard’s trailer at night while he was filming “Private Parts.”

Howard explained that most of the times he saw Eli during this period, Eli was writing a script in longhand, something that Howard admitted he didn’t think would amount to anything. However, the script Eli was writing turned out to be made into his first film, “Cabin Fever,” which ended up grossing a total of $100 million through tickets and DVDs sales and rentals.

Eli told Howard that he finished the “Cabin Fever” script in 1996, but wasn’t able to raise the $1.5 million he needed for its budget until 2001. Eli went on to say that he was having difficulty finding a backer for the project because it didn’t feature a killer, but rather focused on a flesh-eating disease as the enemy. Because of the success of “Cabin Fever,” Eli mentioned that garnering interest for “Hostel” wasn’t as difficult, but added that, due to its strong debut, he’s now getting even more offers than he ever has to do another film. Eli also commented that one of his biggest supporters for “Hostel” was Quentin Tarantino, who, he added, recently got him into a party at Lindsay Lohan’s house.