"the host" was developed into a film with andrew niccol as director and saoirse ronan as melanie. the project was first announced in september 2009 when the producers nick wechsler, steve schwartz and paula mae schwartz used independent financing to acquire film rights to "the host". niccol was hired to write the screenplay and to direct the film. in early 2011, before the start of filming, susanna white had replaced niccol as the director, but niccol resumed his role of director in may 2011. in the same month, ronan was cast to play melanie in the adaptation. on june 27, it was announced that the film would be released on march 29, 2013, with principal photography to start in february 2012 in louisiana and new mexico. open road films acquired the u.s. distribution rights for the film and meyer acted as producer along with wechsler, steve schwartz, and paula mae schwartz.