A few months ago it looked like Nanny NcPhee And The Big Bang helmer Susanna White was set to direct an adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s, The Host, however when it was announced last week that Saoirse Ronan will star in the film, it was suggested Andrew Niccol might take over behind the camera, having previously just been set to write the screenplay. Now Deadline has confirmed the Lord Of War helmer will indeed direct.
Niccol had been in talks to helm when the project was first mooted, but at the time it was felt that his new movie, Now, would get in the way. However he’s now shot that, allowing him to come back on board The Host.
The movie centres on a group of alien parasites dubbed Souls, who have the ability to get inside a human body and completely take it over. Saoirse Ronan will star as Melanie Snyder, one of the last few humans not infected by the Souls. She is taken over by a Soul dubbed Wanderer, who has infected more beings than any other of his kind. However, Wanderer finds that Melanie won’t surrender to the parasite, and The Soul starts to bond with her and connects with her past life.
The project is currently being shopped to financiers at Cannes.