Saoirse Ronan joins the Andrew Niccol adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s The Host

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

She recently got done kicking some serious ass in Joe Wright’s extremely entertaining HANNA, and now Deadline is reporting that the young, lovely, and very versatile Saoirse Ronan will be joining the Andrew Niccol-scripted adaptation of Stephanie “Twilight” Meyer’s THE HOST (no relation to the excellent 2006 Korean film, by the way).

Ronan will play ‘Melanie Stryder’, who as Deadline expounds on, is “one of the last humans putting up a fight against an alien species called Souls. These parasites invade human bodies, fuse to each person’s consciousness and systematically erase their personalities. Melanie is captured by the aliens and implanted by a Soul called Wanderer, something of a legend because of all of the “hosts” she has attached to on numerous planets. Wanderer’s goal is to get Melanie to give up the remaining pockets of humans, but instead the alien finds Melanie to be unique in her unwillingness to surrender her consciousness. Wanderer is so overwhelmed by Melanie’s memories and feelings, the alien is driven to reconnect with Melanie’s old life.” Apparently, the plan is to have Ronan play both ‘Melanie’ and ‘Wanderer’, which could make for an interesting dynamic to witness in the hands of the very capable actress.

Writer Andrew Niccol (GATTACA) was at one point also going to direct the film, but left and opted instead to tackle the Justin Timberlake/Amanda Seyfried sci-fi thriller NOW. Deadline says, though, that Niccol could once again be in the mix to helm the project now that that film has been completed.