The Host
“Man has made his newest predator.”
A teenage girl is captured by a giant mutated squid-like creature that appears from Seoul's Han River after toxic waste was dumped in it, prompting her family into a frantic search for her.
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Cast
65 people
Song Kang-ho
Park Gang-du
Known for
Parasite
Snowpiercer
Byun Hee-bong
Park Hie-bong
Known for
Pinocchio
Memories of Murder
Park Hae-il
Park Nam-il
Known for
Decision to Leave
Memories of Murder
Bae Doona
Park Nam-joo
Known for
Sense8
Kingdom
Ko Asung
Park Hyun-seo
Known for
Snowpiercer
Doona!
Oh Dal-su
The Monster (voice)
Known for
Squid Game
Oldboy
Lee Jae-eung
Se-jin
Known for
Love Alarm
Memories of Murder
Lee Dong-ho
Se-joo
Also in
Boys of Tomorrow
Brian Lee
Young Korean Doctor
Yoon Je-moon
Homeless Man
Known for
The King's Affection
Mother
Yim Pil-sung
Fat Guevara
Also in
Playboy Bong
Kim Roi-ha
Yellow Suit at Funeral
Known for
Memories of Murder
A Bittersweet Life
Bong Joon Ho Director · Baek Chul-hyun Screenplay Hah Jun-won Screenplay
Worldwide gross $88M · Budget $11M · United States release March 9, 2007
Box office
Budget
$11,000,000
Worldwide gross
$88,489,643
Gross vs. budget
8.0×
Production
Chungeorahm Film
Production
Showbox
Production · Distribution
South Korea
Produced in
Languages
Original title
괴물
Original language
Korean
Spoken on screen
English · Korean
Release dates
France · May 21, 2006
Premiere · Cannes Film Festival
South Korea · July 27, 2006
Theatrical
United States · March 9, 2007
Limited theatrical
United States
September 29, 2006 · Premiere · New York Film Festival
March 30, 2007 · Theatrical
Australia
August 8, 2006 · Premiere · Melbourne International Film Festival
November 27, 2026 · Premiere · 4K restoration (ACMI)
Belgium
May 2, 2007 · Theatrical
Brazil
May 18, 2007 · Theatrical
Canada
September 8, 2006 · Premiere · Toronto International Film Festival
July 24, 2007 · Physical · DVD
Estonia
December 3, 2006 · Premiere · Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
Finland
July 27, 2006 · Limited theatrical
France
November 11, 2006 · Premiere · Arras Film Festival
November 22, 2006 · Theatrical
February 29, 2008 · TV · Canal+
June 28, 2010 · TV · Arte
March 8, 2023 · Theatrical · 4K Restored Version (The Jokers)
October 15, 2026 · TV · France 4
Germany
March 29, 2007 · Theatrical
May 1, 2009 · TV · ProSieben
Hong Kong SAR China
September 14, 2006 · Theatrical
Hungary
April 20, 2007 · Premiere · Titanic International Filmpresence Festival
Ireland
November 10, 2006 · Theatrical
Japan
August 17, 2006 · Theatrical · Tokyo
September 2, 2006 · Theatrical
Netherlands
April 20, 2007 · Premiere · Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival
July 26, 2007 · Theatrical
Spain
March 2, 2007 · Theatrical
Sweden
July 27, 2006 · Limited theatrical
United Kingdom
November 10, 2006 · Theatrical
November 19, 2007 · Physical · Blu-ray / DVD
October 14, 2008 · TV · Film4
April 19, 2021 · Physical · Bong Joon Ho Collection (Blu-ray)
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Some details come from TheTVDB.