The Twilight saga may be drawing to a close, but Hollywood’s love affair with Stephenie Meyer’s “prose” is just beginning. With word that the merged Lionsgate-Summit powerhouse intends to explore further Twilight adventures on the small screen, casting continues on Andrew Niccol’s adaptation of Meyer’s other novel, The Host.

Inglourious Basterds star Diane Kruger is circling the pivotal role of The Seeker, according to Deadline. In Meyer’s science-fiction story, an alien race known as The Souls have taken over the human race. The Seeker agrees to watch over Melanie, a warrior soul (played by Hanna star Saoirse Ronan) who has been taken over by Wanderer, a force that has survived the Soul invasion but is overwhelmed by Melanie’s former memories – which shouldn’t exist.

Remember when Meyer dealt only with chaste vampires and sexually frustrated werewolves? Man, those were simpler times. I think it’s safe to assume that Meyer’s audience will follow her from Twilight to The Host, no matter who ultimately is cast in Niccol’s finished film.

But adding legitimate talents like Ronan and Kruger helps to ensure that The Host won’t be as painful for non-Meyer converts. And while The Host sounds like the umpteenth take on the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers fable, Niccol wrote The Truman Show and directed the underrated In Time with Justin Timberlake, so he has the ability to spin a conventional plotline in unexpected directions. Let’s hope he’s the collaborator Meyer and her army have been hoping for.