WATCH: Trailer For Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host' Is 'Twilight' With Aliens

Can aliens be bigger drama queens than vampires?  Next spring will tell. With the last installment of The Twilight Saga opening this weekend, Summit Entertainment has begun priming Twi-Hards for its next Stephenie Meyer project, The Host, which hits the big screen on March 29. 

The scenario laid out in MTV's exclusive trailer below bears some similarities to early Twilight, except the roles seem reversed. Melanie Ryder (Saoirse Ronan) and Jared Howe (Max Irons)  comprise the Bella Swan-Edward Cullen core of the story, but in this case it's Melanie who is altered — by an extraterrestrial, not supernatural force. (It's unclear whether that means Jared plays a really passive dude in the picture.)

Parasitic aliens are using humans as hosts to take over the planet — steely blue irises are the giveaway that a person has been infected — and Melanie, who, with Jared, is part of a rebel group fighting back against the invasion, eventually becomes one of them.

Or does she?  Meyer's book is about how Mel, who remains partially conscious, fights back against the parasite controlling her body using her emotions and memories and eventually forms a bond with it that could help save the human race. (Cue dramatic score.)  As you might expect from a Meyer novel, romantic complications, angst and action scenes ensue.

Andrew Niccol, who directed the 1997 sci-fi gem  Gattaca, helmed The Host, so my expectations are higher than usual,  but I hope the movie isn't as exposition-heavy as this trailer.

Watch 'The Host' Trailer:

[MTV]

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