How well do you know your roommate?

MANILA, Philippines - Columbia Pictures assembles today’s hottest young stars Leighton Meester (TV’s Gossip Girl), Minka Kelly (500 Days of Summer) and Cam Gigandet (Twilight, upcoming Priest) for the gripping suspense-thriller The Roommate.

Oscar-nominated director Christian Christiansen (Råzone) crafts a finely tuned tale of madness and role reversal packed with ingenious twists and heart-stopping surprises as a naïve college freshman (Kelly) begins to suspect that her roommate (Meester) is not what she appears to be.

When the screenplay for The Roommate first arrived on producer Doug Davison’s desk, he immediately knew it had all the elements of a successful thriller. The script was skillfully constructed, and grounded in character and dialogue. The tension and suspense built so that, as the story progressed, the audience would feel more and more uneasy, and then, finally, out and out scared.

The producers began to search for a director who could bring a fresh point of view to a time-honored genre. “I had seen the Danish movie Råzone, directed by Christian Christiansen, and liked it a great deal,” says Davison. “He has a European sensibility that I thought would make the look and feel of the film unconventional in a good way. We had a few phone conversations and Christian’s approach to the material was all about making it feel real.”

Råzone, Christiansen’s first full-length feature, explores the phenomenon of girls who bully, in a thought-provoking and disturbing way. The director proposed bringing an equally realistic point of view to The Roommate. “When I read the screenplay, I could see the movie from beginning to end,” says Christiansen. “I understood it completely. I understood the characters. I thought it was sexy, it was hip. And most of all, it was dark and scary, which really turned me on. I love thrillers, especially from the ’70s and ’80s, and being offered the chance to do something similar was really exciting.”

For his part, Christiansen says he just wants audiences to have fun watching the film. “I think they are in for a treat in the roller coaster ride sense. If you’re into creepy movies, you’ll definitely have a good time. The Roommate is a thriller about the line between friendship and obsession, as well as about finding your way when you are young and everything is new. It’s full of emotional ups and downs, full of surprises — and it’s seriously scary!”

Showing nationwide, The Roommate is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.