Andrew Niccol will direct Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host'

Niccol also wrote the screenplay.

Director Andrew Niccol will helm the film adaptation of author Stephenie Meyer's “The Host.”

Niccol has already written the screenplay for the film, which will star Saoirse Ronan (“Hanna,” “Atonement”) as Melanie Stryder, who must fight to maintain her own identity when her body is invaded by an alien presence.

Niccol penned the scripts for such films as “The Truman Show,” “The Terminal,” “Gattaca,” “Lord of War” and “S1m0ne.” He also directed the latter three films.

His next project is “Now,” another film he wrote and directed, in which humanity's aging gene is turned off, sparking fears of overpopulation and turning time itself into a commodity to be bought and sold.

Meyer is best known for her “Twilight” series, the film adaptations of which have grossed $788 million so far at the domestic box office with the two-part "Breaking Dawn" still to come.