print
The age of Stephenie Meyer continues. The rights for her well-received adult sci-fi book The Host have been bought by film producers for adaptation.
Producers Nick Wechsler, and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz have used their own money to option the screen rights to Meyer's book. The trio's most recent collaboration was producing the upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. They are also producing an adaptation of the Pete Takada book, An Eye at the Top of the World, slated for release in 2011.
On her website, Meyer describes The Host as: "Science fiction for people who don't like science fiction." In the story, Earth has been invaded by an enemy that takes over human's minds, while leaving their bodies intact. When one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, its invader cannot seem to conquer her mind, and she comes to fall in love with her human host's boyfriend, leading the "unwilling allies" go on "a dangerous search for the man they both love."
Throughout the Twilight series, Meyer has always been heavily involved in the screen transfers of the blockbuster films, and it appears The Host will be no different. The film's savvy producers ensured her direct involvement. They relentlessly lobbied Meyer and her reps for the screen rights by laying out their creative vision and emphasizing their desire to make the project collaborative. Meyer rejected their offer several times before finally agreeing. The producers recruited Andrew Niccol to write and direct the adaptation when Meyer listed his films Gattaca and The Truman Show as two of her top five favorite sci-fi movies of all time. Wechsler told Variety, "We wanted Stephenie to be involved in the adaptation... and have her be a part of the creative decisions. Twilight has proven that she [knows] more about what works than most."
Meyer certainly does have the magic touch. And if her extensive teenage following will come to see The Host, it will be a huge success. When she wrote the book, Meyer stated she hoped it would blur the lines between children's and adults' books. To her teenage readers: "You belong anywhere a good book is." Wechsler and the Schwartzes are betting that that sentiment carries over to their film.
Related links:
Got a news tip for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.
The Oprah Winfrey Show to End in…
Roland Emmerich Unveils Independence Day Sequels
What Will James Franco's General Hospital Experiment,…
Pixies Play Fallon, Fans Pick Second Song…
Top 10 Best Debut Novels of the…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 50 Best Movies of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms Vs. Bad…
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
The book is AWESOME! Here are my picks: MELANIE/WANDA: Sophia Bush, Megan Fox, Leelee Sokieski, Erika Christensen, Danielle Panabaker, Emma Stone, Minka Kelly, Mila Kunis. (the after-WANDA/PET: Ellen Page, Dakota Fanning, Sofia Vassilieva, Hayden Panettiere, Brittney Snow, Ashley Benson). JARED: Sean Faris, Channing Tatum, Matt Long, Jesse Metcalfe, Tom Welling, Billy Aaron Brown. IAN: Cam Gigandet, Lucas Black, Thomas Dekker, Mike Vogel, Chris Evans, Ben Easter. KYLE: Taylor Kitsch, Robert Hoffman, Alessandro Nivola, Jonathan Bennett, Penn Badgley, Ethan Peck. JAMIE: Max Thieriot, Evan Elingson, Carter Jenkins, Jake Pearson, Cody Linley, Josh Hutcherson. UNCLE JEB: Anthony Hopkins, Dennis Hopper, Tim Allen. Can’t wait til the movie comes out!