Liam Hemsworth, Kit Harrington, And More Compete For Male Leads In Stephenie Meyer Adaptation ‘The Host’
With the uber-successfulTwilightfilm series due to end next November, Hollywood is turning its attention thatotherStephenie Meyeradaptation, the sci-fi romanceThe Host.In Timewriter/directorAndrew Niccolboardedthe project earlier this year withSaoirse Ronanset to star, and now a group of young up-and-comers are getting ready to compete for the two male leads.
Liam Hemsworth(The Last Song),Kit Harrington(Game of Thrones),Jai Courtney(Spartacus: Blood and Sand), andMax Irons(Red Riding Hood) are set to test for a character named Jared, whileDane DeHaan(The Place Beyond the Pines),Thomas McDonnell(Prom),Augustus Prew(Charlie St. Cloud), andJake Abel(The Lovely Bones) will test for the part of Ian. More details after the jump.
Jared is Melanie’s boyfriend, who has powerfully conflicting emotions about this Wanderer-posessed version of Melanie; Ian is a human who initially attacks Wanderer before coming to fall in love with her. Hemsworth is definitely the biggest name in the bunch, but he may be tied up with all of his other projects, particularly theHunger Gamesseries. Abel has the distinction of being the only actor who’s worked with Ronan previously, in Peter Jackson’sThe Lovely Bones.
It sounds like there’s potential for some interesting acting challenges for all three leads,ifNiccol explores the tension between Melanie and Wanderer instead of just focusing on the more obvious love-triangle aspect. However, if the tiresome Edward vs. Jacob stuff in Meyer’sThe Twilight Sagais any indication, I’m guessing I shouldn’t hold out hope.
The Hostis the first book in an intended trilogy by Meyer, and debuted at the top of the New York Times bestselling list when it was released in 2008. Production on Niccol’s adaptation is scheduled to begin early 2012 in New Mexico and Louisiana, for a targeted release ofMarch 29, 2013.
