You might know that Stephenie Meyer is the woman who created a little vampire book series known as Twilight. But she also has a sci-fi title out there, and Andrew Niccol has been hired to write an direct an adaptation.

He'll be tackling the tale of a world where an alien species has assimilated a ruined Earth. The friendly newcomers (though they are parasites) are called "Souls" and joins with a dying woman to locate the last surviving humans. Naturally, love blossoms.

A group of producers have gotten together to badger Meyer into finally giving up the rights to the book, published earlier this year. Apparently she's been holding out for a while, and given the success of Twilight, she's got JK Rowling-level power to say no.

But the team - Nick Wechsler, Steve Schwartz and Paula Mae Schwartz - finally convinced her with "a significant offer, a strong vision for the project and a collaborative spirit." Yes, the ol' dump truck of money. It never fails.

Okay, less cynical: "We wanted Stephenie to be involved in the adaptation and have her endorse and be part of the creative decisions," Wechsler said. "Twilight" has "proven she knows more about what works than most."

And they also won her over by asking her what her favourite sci-fi movies are - she answered with Gattaca and The Truman Show among her top five, which might explain why Niccol got the call…

[Source: Variety]

Twi-hards! Happy about this? And everyone else: ready to give Meyer another shot?