'The Host' Two Day Madness

The past two days were crazy for me, filled with two screenings of The Host, a book signing, and miles and miles of driving. 

The Host madness kicked off Monday morning with a 10am screening of the movie in Orlando. The group was relatively small, so they crammed us in one of the smallest theaters for the next two hours. I was very nervous to see the movie since I would be driving to Miami to see it again that night. What if I didn’t like it? Well, there was no problem there since I really enjoyed the movie. Sure, there were changes and shortcuts taken, but for such a large and mostly internal book, they did a great job bringing it to the screen (I will post a review closer to the release date). The audience seemed to enjoy the movie, laughing at the right moments and audible gasps at others. 

From there, I hopped onto the Turnpike and headed south to Miami (yes, the Will Smith song played in my head part of the way). I was able to reserve a seat for the Miami screening, which was a lifesaver since I was stuck in traffic from the hotel to the theater. The Orlando audience seemed into the movie, but the Miami audience was on another level. There were a lot of hearty laughs and some of the dialogue was lost amongst the laughter and chatter of the audience. There were also plenty of sighs and squeals for Max Irons and Jake Abel when they delivered their swoon worthy lines. 

When the movie ended, the stars were brought into the theater one by one, starting with Jake Abel, then Max Irons, and the biggest star of the lot, Stephenie Meyer. The boys looked dashing and were quite charming with the crowd (Check out what Jake Abel did to make the audience crack up). 

Most of the questions went to Stephenie, who talked about working with Andrew Niccol, what is was like writing The Host, and Twilight comparisons. The boys also fielded some questions, including working with Saoirse Ronan and their favorite scenes to shoot. The Q&A was short, lasting about 15 minutes, and the three were whisked away before the crowd could rush after them (You can read the transcript here). I may be the only one, but I got a kick out of Beautiful Creatures with Jeremy Irons playing at the same time in the neighboring theater.

On Tuesday, I was up bright and early to make my way to Coral Gables for The Host signing at Books & Books with Stephenie Meyer and the boys. I arrived around 8am for the 3pm signing and there was actually a group that got there about an hour before me. The first few hours passed quickly as the crowd grew throughout the day. I was surprised by how many fans in line were not as excited for The Host and a few admitted not reading the book. Around 1pm, the sun crept up on us and the heat began to wear us down, but we made it through! A little after 3pm, we were admitted to the book store in groups and led into the signing room in small numbers. 

My first stop was to see Stephenie Meyer, who told me I have an awesome name (it's Stephanie). I mentioned that I run The Host Movie Fans and was part of the fan site interview last Thursday. She commented that it was a great interview, and I'm inclined to agree. I also told her how much I enjoyed the movie and she and the others around her were shocked I had already seen it twice. 

We were allowed to have two books signed, one of which could be personalized. It was a tough decision, but in the end I went with my hardcover copies of The Host and Twilight.

Next up were the boys. Right before it was my turn to go up to them, my camera card ran out of memory! Luckily I had an extra card and switched them out before I moved up to the table (crisis averted!). Max and Jake signed mini movie posters and they could not have been sweeter. I also told Jake I had seen the movie twice and he responded that even he hasn't see it that many times. While I like Stephenie and Jake, it was really Max Irons I was most excited to see. My first blog was for Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood and I've been quite fond of Max ever since. I told him about my blog and how much I liked The Host and Red Riding Hood. We had a nice exchange before I was sent on my way. The boys also posed for a few pics and dear me are they handsome. 

The line for the signing went rather quickly and I had an extra book to get signed (I will be giving this one away), so I made my way back through the line. It was even better the second time around because I was able to get my picture taken with Max and Jake (!!!!!!!!!!!). I was so excited about it that I forgot my signed poster and had to go back for it, which was a little embarrassing. 

Driving 8 hours up and down Florida and waiting in line for 7 hours was EXHAUSTING, but so worth it in the end. Stephenie, Max, and Jake were all lovely and gracious. I hope to meet them again and maybe even chat a little bit more. 

A HUGE thank you goes to the people from Open Road Films for the screening passes and the employees at Books & Books for hosting such a wonderful event. 

You can view all my photos here. When going through my camera, I was surprised I didn't have more photos, but I guess you forget things like that in the moment. Check out more photos from the screening and book signing (more here).