Say what you will about Stephanie Meyer or her Twilight series, but the woman has a following.

And now, for the adaptation of her latest work, The Host, William Hurt has joined the upcoming Andrew Niccol-directed film, which will find him alongside Saoirse Ronan. Ronan stars as Melanie Stryder, with Hurt playing “Jeb, eccentric uncle” to Stryder, “whose brain is hijacked by the soul of an alien being known as Wanderer. Jeb is one of the grizzled leaders of the human survivalists fighting the alien invasion.”

Personally, I love this news. Hurt is a fantastic actor, and adds a ton of intrigued and class to this otherwise oddly intriguing project. Ronan is one of the best young actresses around, and while I’m not a huge fan of Niccol as a filmmaker, particularly following his last film, but with this cast, this type of project has a bunch to look forward to.

What do you think?

[Source: EW]