MTV Movies Blog › The Host

Some days, all you really need is a picture of Gandalf the Grey chillaxing with sunglasses on.

Today is one such day. Coming Soon scored this awesome photo of Ian McKellen reprising his iconic role on the set of "The Hobbit," though the wizardry on display here is of a different variety than most of us are used to.

Check out the rest of today's movie news past the jump, including a director signing on for Saoirse Ronan's "The Host" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" getting up to some monkey business!

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Tags Andrew Niccol, Arabian Nights, Danny Trejo, Ian McKellen, Liam Hemsworth, rise of the planet of the apes, Sons of Anarchy, The Host, the-hobbit

The ultimate villain, Satan, makes an appearance (twice!) in this week's Horror Bites. To start, "The Hangover's" Bradley Cooper, supposedly in talks to star in "The Crow" remake, has now set his sights on an adaptation of "Paradise Lost" – no, it has nothing to do with the metal band – and Cooper may be playing the big bad himself, Lucifer. Rutger Hauer won't let anyone show him up, though, and is also engaging in a little devilry on screen.

"Paranormal Activity 3" is slipping into "Saw's" place as the new Halloween franchise. Oren Peli and his crew have brought on a team of "documentary" filmmakers to direct their latest installment in the supernatural series. Pants will be peed this October, for sure. Meanwhile, the cast of "Piranha 3DD" is rounding out quite nicely – and may need to increase a cup size – with the addition of some familiar faces, and the "Sexiest Woman Alive."

Find out the full skinny, and relish in more horror goodies, after the jump.

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Tags bradley cooper, cabin in the woods, catfish, Constantine, dark shadows, michael sheen, Paradise Lost, paranormal activity 3, Piranha 3DD, rob zombie, Rutget Hauer, Savage County, The Host, The Lords of Salem, The Reverend, Weird Al Yankovic

If one person's going to represent the dwindling human race in the face of an alien invasion, we could do far worse than "Hanna."

Our friends at Hollywood Crush report that Saoirse Ronan, who took on the title role in this year's awesome action flick "Hanna," is set to star in "The Host," based on a novel from "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer. Ronan would play Melanie Ryder, one of the last survivors of the invading Souls, an alien species that can possess human bodies. Melanie comes under the possession of Wanderer, but the strong-willed teenager refuses to surrender her consciousness and the two form a bond in the process.

There's plenty more news out there today beyond Ronan's latest role. After the jump, we've got an update on "Kill Bin Laden" and a follow-up to our report on Christoph Waltz's status in Quentin Tarantino's new movie.

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Tags Charlie Hunnam, Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained, james bond 23, kathryn bigelow, Kill Bin Laden, paul w.s. anderson, pompeii, quentin tarantino, saoirse ronan, The Host, The Ledge

FROM HOLLYWOOD CRUSH: "New Moon" is still two months away from hitting theaters, "Eclipse" is filming and Summit Entertainment is figuring out who is doing what in "Breaking Dawn" pre-production, but with film rights for Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" being purchased earlier this week, the focus has shifted away momentarily from "The Twilight Saga" and instead to its science fiction cousin.

I've met plenty of "Twilight" fans who still haven't read "The Host," even though its maintained its spot on the New York Times bestsellers list from its debut in May 2008. In many ways, I like it more than "The Twilight Saga" for its intriguing plot and interesting characters. The dynamic relationship between Melanie, a rebel human trying to resist an alien invasion, and Wanda, the alien or Soul who possess her body, is the driving force of the entire novel, and a really intriguing one at that.

Continue reading Just Like 'Twilight,' Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host' Will Hit The Big Screen, But Who Should Star In It?

Tags Stephenie Meyer, The Host, Twilight

In other news, water is still wet. I think the most surprising thing about the news that "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer's novel "The Host" got picked up for a big screen adaptation is that it took so long to actually happen. Summit Entertainment has been doing so well with the "Twilight" series, you'd think they would have optioned the other Meyer book ages ago.

Instead, Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz ponied up to grab the rights for themselves, tapping "The Truman Show" writer Andrew Niccol to develop a script, according to a report in Variety. Wechsler and the Schwartzes are also the producers behind director John Hillcoat's upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy novel "The Road." Read more...

Tags Andrew Niccol, Stephenie Meyer, The Host, Twilight