Based on the Body Snatchers-esque novel
Variety reports that producers Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz have acquired the screen rights to The Host, the first adult novel written by Stephenie Meyer, creator and author of the Twilight series.
Andrew Niccol who’s written & directed Gattaca, S1m0ne, Lord Of War and the upcoming The Cross will write the script and direct The Host.
Meyer’s novel is a love story set in the near future on Earth, which has been assimilated by an alien species of benevolent parasites that call themselves “Souls.” One such soul, the Wanderer, is fused with a dying human named Melanie Stryder, in an attempt to locate the last pocket of surviving humans on Earth. (Sounds a bit like a “romantic” Invasion of the Body Snatchers)
This is how the publisher, Little, Brown and Company, describes the book version:
The author of the Twilight series of # 1 bestsellers delivers her brilliant first novel for adults: a gripping story of love and betrayal in a future with the fate of humanity at stake.
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.
Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves-Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she’s never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.
Featuring what may be the first love triangle involving only two bodies, The Host is a riveting and unforgettable novel that will bring a vast new readership to one of the most compelling writers of our time.
Source: Variety
