Ansel Elgort Is Augustus Waters in "The Fault in Our Stars" Opposite Shailene Woodley

From siblings to star-crossed lovers! EW reports rising star Ansel Elgort has been offered the male lead in "The Fault in Our Stars" opposite Shailene Woodley - who plays his sister in the currently-filming dystopian adaptation "Divergent." The two Read more

Dylan O'Brien Lands "The Maze Runner" Lead; Ki Hong Lee Also Joins

UPDATE: Director Wes Ball tweets that Ki Hong Lee has also joined the cast as Minho, a fellow Glader and ally to Thomas throughout the series. Lee is probably best known as a regular on short-lived ABC Family Read more

Shailene Woodley Confirmed for "The Fault in Our Stars"

I mean, duh, we called it. It has now been officially confirmed with glowing quotes from director, producer and author in tow that the increasingly in demand Shailene Woodley will play the lead role of Hazel Grace Lancaster Read more

Up and Comers Presents: 20 Faces to Watch in 2013

After a somewhat unpredictable year in which the stars we expected to break out largely didn't but fresh faces came out of nowhere to surprise us all, we are ready to look ahead to the new talent waiting to Read more

Up and Comers Presents: The Breakout Stars of 2012

Another year, another new crop of fresh talent. Just like last year, the hardest part is narrowing down which of the dozens of the year's rising stars shone the brightest. This year we heralded the arrival of the unlikeliest Read more
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Watch: Saoirse Ronan and Max Irons in third trailer for “The Host”

February 16, 2013 | Posted by Araceli Roach in Videos 1 Comment

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It’s still up in the air whether Stephenie Meyer’s follow-up to “Twilight” has what it takes to be the next big young adult franchise, but the newest trailer for “The Host” at least gives us a lot more to go on. An alien invasion, the battle for the human race, a girl fighting for control of her own mind, and searching for the brother and love she lost, is exactly what made the original novel so compelling in the first place.

Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (“Gattaca”), the film stars Saoirse Ronan as Melanie, one of the lone survivors of an invasion by Souls, aliens who take control of their hosts and have set out to protect the planet from the destructive human population. After Melanie is taken over by a Soul called Wanderer, she must fight back to stop them from using her to find the last of the resistance.

The trailer, which premiered this past week during a Google Hangout with the film’s three leads Ronan, Max Irons and Jake Abel, also features glimpses of stars Diane Kruger, William Hurt and Frances Fisher. “The Host” will be in theaters next month on March 29th, but for now you can see the new trailer below.

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New still images from Saoirse Ronan-starrer “The Host”, including first look at Jake Abel as Ian O’Shea

April 19, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Images 2 Comments

UPDATE: The images have been taken down by studio request, though as far as I can tell they are still accessible at the Facebook page from which they originated.

Several new stills from Andrew Niccol’s alien actioner “The Host” were released today, featuring new looks at Saoirse Ronan as Melanie Stryder and Wanderer, the alien Soul that has invaded Melanie’s body (you can tell she’s no longer “human” by the eyes), Max Irons as Melanie’s boyfriend Jared, and last but not least, the first look at Jake Abel as fan-favorite Ian O’Shea, the sensitive guy who falls for Wanderer. Ta-da, a love quadrangle in three bodies is born.

Niccol is currently shooting the film based on “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer’s first adult novel, in New Mexico. Also below is a first look at William Hurt as Jeb, Melanie’s uncle and the leader of a small group of human resistance who live underground and are the last of the humans on earth who haven’t been taken over by aliens. We’ve already seen Diane Kruger as the alien Seeker, sworn to follow Wanderer/Melanie to their group.

“The Host” is still just about a year away from release, with an expected date of March 29, 2013 but The Host Spanish Facebook page posted the new stills, which you can see below.

Boyd Holbrook and Chandler Canterbury join “The Host” opposite Saiorse Ronan

January 21, 2012 | Posted by Linda Ge in Casting 1 Comment

Jake Abel and Saiorse Ronan, meet your siblings. Casting on Andrew Niccol’s “The Host” is firming up, and Variety reports model-slash-actor Boyd Holbrook has signed on to play the macho Kyle O’Shea, big brother to Abel’s Ian, while child actor Chandler Cantebury will play Jamie Stryder, little brother to Ronan’s Melanie.

“Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer traded in vampires for aliens in her first adult action novel about Melanie Stryder, a human who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where humans still technically exist and walk around, but with their brains controlled by alien “souls.” When Melanie is taken over by a soul named Wanderer, her will to survive is too strong to completely overcome and the two beings share her body and attempt to return to the small pocket of human resistance she belonged to before her capture. Max Irons is on board as Melanie’s boyfriend Jared, Diane Kruger recently joined the cast as The Seeker, an alien who pursues Melanie/Wanderer in the hopes of converting the last group of humans. William Hurt plays the leader of that group, operating out of an underground cave. Filming is set to begin at the end of the month in New Mexico, with a release date already set for March 29, 2013.

Holbrook, a former male model, has a still somewhat light resume in acting, recently seen in Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut “Higher Ground” and indie comedy “The Oranges”, as well as series like “The Big C” and “Hatfields & McCoys.” The 13-year-old Cantebury actually has more credits to his name, most notably “The Curios Case of Benjamin Button” and “Knowing”, along with at least three films in 2012, “The Goats”, “Plastic Jesus” and “Little Red Wagon.”

Diane Kruger to seek Saorise Ronan in Andrew Niccol’s adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer novel “The Host”

January 21, 2012 | Posted by Rebecca Lewis in Casting 1 Comment

As one Stephenie Meyer adaptation comes to the end, another is just beginning. The author’s first novel away from the hugely popular Twilight saga was released in 2009, an alien actioner titled “The Host”, and the adaptation by Andrew Niccol (“In Time”) has long been in development.

The story centers around a post-apocalyptic world in which aliens called Souls have body-snatched and are occupying the majority of the human population. Stryder’s body has been taken over by a Soul named Wanderer, however Stryder’s strong will to survive have the two consciousnesses fighting for domination and eventually becoming allies as they set out to find Jared, the man Melanie loves, and their small colony of human resistance.

Casting began nearly a year ago, with the announcement at Cannes Film Festival that Saoirse Ronan had been cast as Melanie Stryder, the lead protaganist, with male leads Jake Abel and Max Irons following later in the year, and now Deadline are reporting that Diane Kruger has been cast as The Seeker, “who is charged with overseeing the conversion” of Melanie Stryder. “The Seeker pursues [Stryder], knowing that the conversion of the rebel will lead to the discovery and eradication of the rebel movement.”

Filming is set to begin very soon, with a release date already set for March 29th 2013.

Kruger is a regular feature of casting shortlists, and in the last year her name has popped up on the lists for Zack Snyder’s “Superman” reboot, the remake of 80s hit “Total Recall” and Tom Cruise’s currently entitled sci-fi epic. The German actress however has yet to win any of these roles, and is perhaps most famous for her supporting role in Quentin Tatantino’s 2009 Oscar nominated film “Inglourious Basterds”.