Andrew Niccol’s upcoming adaptation of The Host*, the novel originally written by Stephenie Meyer (Twilight), is just over a year away from its release and we now have the first look at two of the lead characters to share with you.

Saoirse Ronan, who’s been rising on people’s radars ever since Atonement, will be playing the young female lead Melanie Stryder, with Max Irons and Jake Abel opposite her as Jared Howe and Ian O’Shea, respectively. Courtesy of Up & Comers, via Collider, the first magazine scans looking at Ronan and Irons have surfaced online, and whilst grainy, the look at Ronan in particular is excellent.

We first heard that Niccol (In Time, Gattaca) would be directing from his own adapted script of Meyer’s novel last year, and given the success that Twilight has had – and the possibility that Meyer will be penning sequels to her original 2008 novel – this certainly has the potential to become a big franchise for all involved in the years to come.

Diane Kruger and William Hurt are also part of the cast alongside the younger stars, and courtesy of Waterstones, the plot synopsis for Meyer’s novel looks a little like this:

“Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed. Wanderer, the invading ‘soul’ who has been given Melanie’s body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. Melanie fills Wanderer’s thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves – Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body’s desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she’s never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.”

With Twilight coming to an end at the end of this year, and The Hunger Games setting up shop in its place for Lionsgate, it will be interesting to see how The Host fares when it comes to the big screen next year.

Recently-founded distributor Open Road Films acquired the rights to the film last year, and with films like Liam Neeson’s The Grey, Guy Pearce’s Lockout (released here on 20th April), the upcoming Red Dawn remake (2nd November in the US), and Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects/Bitter Pill already in their credits, it’s clear that they’re quickly making a name for themselves since launching in March last year.

The Host is due to be released on 29th March, 2013 here in the UK and the US, so we’ve got one year and one week to set our anticipation levels on high. As usual with this first look image, you can click to enlarge.

*Not to be confused with the 2006 South Korean monster film of the same name.