New Trailer And Poster For Stephenie Meyer’s Sci-Fi Effort The Host

By Brent McKnight | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

If you’ve come into this hoping to hear about Bong Joon-ho’s creature feature, The Host, you’re about to be sorely disappointed. This Host is a teen-centered science fiction story based on the young adult novel by Stephenie Meyers, the author of the Twilight books. With the final installment of twinkling vampires and shirtless werewolves about to take over theaters, promotion is ramping up for The Host. Feast your eyes upon this new trailer and poster.

This trailer is a very obvious attempt to snare the Twilight crowd with the forbidden romance that must endure tremendous odds and overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges. From the look of this, The Host could easily be another throwaway teens-in-love genre venture, but there’s still hope.

The scenario is actually interesting, and the story is set in a future where the majority of humans have been taken over by invaders who use their bodies like mobile hotel rooms. There are “wild” humans still roaming the countryside, those who haven’t succumbed to the invaders, and who fight back against their oppressors. It isn’t easy for the invaders to live inside of a human shell. Their lingering emotions and memories wreak havoc, and when Melanie (Saorise Ronan, Hanna) is taken over, parts of her old self shine through. Sure, this is a riff on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but there’s potential in that.

Writer/director Andrew Niccol is certainly capable of delivering the goods. His Gattaca is a woefully underappreciated sci-fi film, and The Truman Show was big on ideas. Add a solid cast that includes Ronan and Diane Kruger, and there might be something more to The Host than initially meets the eye. Then again, it could suck.

We’ll have to wait until March 29, 2013 to find out which way The Host goes.