HUNGER GAMES, GAME OF THRONES Stars Line Up for Stephanie Meyer’s THE HOST

Comic book fans have been enjoying their favorite heroes on film for over a decade and now lovers of young adult books get to relive their favorites on the big screen as well. The Harry Potter films have come to a satisfactory end and the exciting first half of the final Twilight Saga picture is coming to theaters on the 14th of this month. What’s left to look forward to? In a word: plenty.

The Hunger Games movie is coming next March. If you haven’t read the imaginative and harrowing dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins, you still have the time. Starring as heroine Katniss Everdeen in the film is up and comer Jennifer Lawrence. Her two strapping young men are Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth as Peeta and Gale. You knew there would be a love triangle, didn’t you? Speaking of those, Stephenie Meyer’s stand-alone, non-vampire novel The Host, is also being made into a film. It is the mother of all love triangles and casting decisions are being made now!

Why is it the mother of all love triangles? Well, young actress Saoirse Ronan of Hanna and The Lovely Bones will star as Melanie Stryder. When our world is invaded by aliens who take over our bodies, things get crazy real fast and humans must hide or become vessels for our new hosts. One host known as Wanderer, gets put inside Melanie and begins to fall in love with the human man that Melanie loves. Now that’s a triangle. Two female spirits, one body. There’s another lead male, too. So, does that make it a love square?

The exciting news today from Variety was, the two lead males are being decided over now. Liam Hemsworth, Chris Hemsworth’s brother and a star of The Hunger Games is being looked at for the role of Jared, Melanie’s loveable, somewhat tough boyfriend. With him, Kit Harington of Game of Thrones, Jai Courtney of One Shot and Max Irons of Red Riding Hood will also test for the part.

As for the other male lead, Ian, who is mildly more affable, the following young actors are being looked at for his part: Dane DeHaan from In Treatment, Thomas McDonnell from Prom, Augustus Prew from The Borgias and Ronan’s Lovely Bones co-star Jake Abel. How does Ian figure into the mix? He’s a human and he starts to fall in love with Wander, the alien, not Melanie, who is his friend’s girlfriend, but is assumed lost because Wanderer has taken over her body.

If you saw Andrew Niccol’s directing in In Time over the weekend, you got a taste of the direction for The Host. Hemsworth is pictured above and Kit Harington is featured below.