Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Author Stephenie Meyer, whose Twilight Saga franchise helped make Comic-Con such an important cog in movie marketing, has something dramatic planned when she and the film’s cast gather tomorrow for their final Comic-Con panel for Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn–Part 2. I’m told that the surprise will focus on what is shaping up to be Meyers’ next film franchise, The Host. She and that film’s distributor, Open Road, will be doing something during the Twilight Saga panel. I could not  confirm whether this is a sneak peek at footage–the film wrapped just weeks ago–though that would certainly make sense as the author tries to entice Twihards to embrace her next major film.

The Host is Meyers’ first science fiction novel, and focuses on a parasitic alien soul injected into Melanie Stryder (Saoirse Ronan), one of the last human holdouts trying to resist the alien invasion. Initially bent on breaking the girl’s spirit and thwarting the resistance effort, the alien soul becomes obsessed with her memories and free will.

There is a certain symmetry here, because while Meyer has only published a single novel, it’s believed she has already written the next two installments of a trilogy. Just as that vampire/werewolf saga focused on a love triangle between Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, the Andrew Niccol-directed The Host does the same with characters played by Ronan, Max Irons and Jake Abel. The Host opens Easter weekend 2013. Stay tuned.