"The Road" to outer space

You might expect Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz to have their eyes on "The Road," the movie they produced based on Cormac McCarthy's novel. (The film starring Viggo Mortensen hits theaters Nov. 25.) But the Gloucester couple is onto their next project. They've teamed with Nick Wechsler to acquire the screen rights to “The Host,” a novel by Stephenie Meyer, author of the oh-so-popular “Twilight” series. And they've enlisted Andrew Niccol to write and direct the sci-fi flick. (Niccol wrote and directed “Gattaca” and wrote “The Truman Show.”) "We all agreed this was the perfect science fiction project. It's an interspecies love triangle," Steve Schwartz told us yesterday. "As someone said, it's a menage a trois with only two bodies...A wonderul mix of sci-fi romance, spirituality, and adventure." By getting Meyer to agree, the Schwartzes succeeded where others failed: She spurned several other offers. "She is a very careful, savvy woman," said Schwartz, CEO of the Waltham-based Schwartz Communications. "But when (Niccol) presented his vison of the movie, Stephenie responded very positively."

Here's the trailer for "The Road."

Caption: Executive producer Todd Wagner, producer Steve Schwartz, producer Paula Mae Schwartz, and executive producer Marc Butan arrive at a screening of "The Road" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)