Fifty Shades of Grey is an upcoming film directed by Sam Taylor-Wood with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel, Patrick Marber and Mark Bomback, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by E. L. James. It is set to be released on February 13, 2015 by Michael De Luca Productions,Trigger Street Productions, Focus Features, andUniversal Pictures. Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson were initially cast in the leading roles of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, respectively, with Hunnam departing the project the following month and being replaced by Jamie Dornan.
By early 2012, several Hollywood studios had presented or were preparing presentations to the author and her agent to obtain film rights to the Fifty Shades trilogy.Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount and Universal, as well asMark Wahlberg's production company, put in bids for the film rights, with Universal Pictures and Focus Features eventually securing the rights to the trilogy in March 2012. Author James sought to retain some control during the movie's creative process. The Social Network producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunettisigned on to produce the film, having been hand-picked by E. L. James.Although American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis publicly expressed his desire to write the screenplay for the film, Kelly Marcel, screenwriter ofSaving Mr. Banks, was hired for the job. Patrick Marber was brought in by Taylor-Wood to polish the screenplay, specifically to do some “character work”. Universal hired Mark Bomback for script doctoring. Mark Bridges serves as the costume designer. Entertainment Weekly estimated the film's budget as "$40 million-or-so".