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Fifty Shades of Grey is an upcoming American erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Based on E. L. James' best-selling novel of the same name, the film stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. The film will premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015 and will have a wide release on February 13, 2015 by Michael De Luca Productions, Trigger Street Productions, Focus Features, and Universal Pictures.

Plot

When Anastasia "Ana" Steele, a literature student, goes to interview the wealthy Christian Grey, as a favor to her roommate Kate Kavanagh, she encounters a handsome, brilliant and intimidating man. The innocent and naive Ana, startled to realize she wants him, despite his enigmatic reserve and advice, finds herself desperate to get close to him. Not able to resist Ana's beauty and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her too, but in his own terms. Ana hesitates as she discovers the singular tastes of Grey – despite the embellishments of success – his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family – Grey is consumed by the need to control everything. As they get close, Steele starts to discover Grey's secrets and explores her own desires.

Cast

Production

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 as Mark 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 Brunetti signed 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 of Saving 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".

Director
By May 9, 2013, the studio was considering Joe Wright to direct, but this proved unworkable due to Wright's schedule. Other directors who had been under consideration included Patty Jenkins, Bill Condon, Bennett Miller, and Steven Soderbergh. In June 2013, E. L. James announced Sam Taylor-Johnson would direct the film adaptation.

Casting
James felt casting Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in the film would be "weird". Bret Easton Ellis stated that Pattinson had been James' first choice for the role of Christian Grey. Ian Somerhalder and Chace Crawford had been named as expressing an interest in acting in the film as Christian. Somerhalder later admitted if he had been considered, the filming process would ultimately have conflicted with his shooting schedule for The CW series The Vampire Diaries. On September 2, 2013, author E. L. James revealed that Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson had been cast as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. The short list of other actresses considered for the role of Anastasia included Alicia Vikander, Imogen Poots, Elizabeth Olsen, Shailene Woodley, and Felicity Jones. Keeley Hazell auditioned for an unspecified role. Lucy Hale also auditioned for the film.

The studio originally wanted Ryan Gosling for Christian, but he was not interested in the role. Garrett Hedlund was also considered, but he could not connect with the character. Stephen Amell said he would not have wanted to play the role of Grey because "I actually didn't find him to be that interesting... nothing about Christian Grey really spoke to me." Hunnam initially turned down the role of Christian but later reconsidered it following a meeting with studio heads. Hunnam said of the audition process: "I felt really intrigued and excited about it so I went and read the first book to get a clearer idea of who this character was, and I felt even more excited at the prospect of bringing him to life. We [Taylor-Johnson and I] kind of both suggested I do a reading with Dakota, who was her favorite, and as soon as we got in the room and I started reading with Dakota I knew that I definitely wanted to do it. There's just like a tangible chemistry between us. It felt exciting and fun and weird and compelling." In response to the negative fan reaction the casting drew, producer Dana Brunetti said: "There is a lot that goes into casting that isn't just looks. Talent, availability, their desire to do it, chemistry with other actor, etc. So if your favorite wasn't cast, then it is most likely due to something on that list. Keep that in mind while hating and keep perspective."

In October 2013, actress Jennifer Ehle was in talks for the role of Anastasia's mother Carla. On October 12, 2013, Universal Pictures announced that Hunnam had exited the film due to conflicts with the schedule of his FX series Sons of Anarchy. Alexander Skarsgard, Jamie Dornan, Theo James, François Arnaud, Scott Eastwood, Luke Bracey, and Billy Magnussen were at the top of the list to replace Hunnam as Christian Grey. Finally, on October 23, 2013, Dornan was cast as Christian Grey. On October 31, 2013, Victor Rasuk was cast as José Rodriguez, Jr. On November 22, 2013 Eloise Mumford was cast as Kate Kavanagh. On December 2, 2013, singer Rita Ora was cast as Christian's younger sister Mia. Ora originally wanted to work on the soundtrack. On December 3, 2013, Marcia Gay Harden was cast as Christian's mother, Grace.

Filming
In September, filming was scheduled to start on November 5, 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The following month, producer Michael De Luca announced filming would begin on November 13, 2013. Principal photography was again delayed and eventually started on December 1, 2013. Scenes were filmed in the Gastown district of Vancouver. Bentall 5 was used as the Grey Enterprises building. The University of British Columbia serves as Washington State University Vancouver, from which Ana graduates. The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver was used as the Heathman Hotel. The film was also shot at the North Shore Studios. The production officially ended on February 21, 2014. Reshoots involving scenes between Dornan and Johnson took place in Vancouver during the week of October 13, 2014.

Soundtrack
Main article: Fifty Shades of Grey (soundtrack)
The author of the novel, E. L. James, announced the film's soundtrack would be released on February 10, 2015. Prior to the soundtrack's release, the first single, "Earned It", by The Weeknd, was released on December 24, 2014. On January 7, 2015, the second single, "Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding was released. Australian singer Sia released the soundtrack's third single, "Salted Wound", on January 27, 2015.

Release

In February 2013, Universal chairman Adam Fogelson told The Hollywood Reporter about the release: "It's conceivable that we could be ready to release it as early as next summer." The studio initially announced an August 1, 2014 release. However, in November 2013, it was pushed back to February 13, 2015 in time for Valentine's Day. Fifty Shades of Grey will first be screened at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015. Screenwriter Marcel stated that she expected the film to have a NC-17 rating, although producer Brunetti and a representative of Universal declined to confirm the statement. Producer De Luca said the film will be rated R. As predicted, on January 5, 2015, the MPAA gave the film an R rating "for strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language." On February 2, 2015, the BBFC classified the film an 18 certificate with the sole insight being "strong sex".

Rating controversy
The film's R-rating has been the subject of immense criticism. Anti-pornography watchdog group Morality in Media argued that the rating, "severely undermines the violent themes in the film and does not adequately inform parents and patrons of the film’s content." They also said that the MPAA was encouraging sexual violence by letting the film by without an NC-17 rating".

Marketing
On January 25, 2014, Universal debuted the first film posters indicating "Mr. Grey will see you now" in five locations across the United States, more than a year prior to the film's release. On February 14, 2014, the first still of Johnson as Anastasia was released one year prior to its release date. On June 18, 2014, the film's official Twitter account released the first still of Dornan as Christian in honor of Christian's birthday.

On July 9, 2014, the book's author, E. L. James, announced on her official Twitter account the film's trailer will be released on July 24, 2014. Beyoncé debuted a teaser for the trailer on her official Instagram account five days before the trailer's release. On July 24, Dornan and Johnson were on The Today Show to present part of the trailer appropriate for morning television; the full trailer which contains more racy scenes was released later on the same day on the internet. The trailer features a new recorded version of "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé which was scored and arranged by her frequent collaborator Boots. The trailer garnered 36.4 million views in the first week since its release on July 24. This made it the most viewed trailer on YouTube in 2014, until it was surpassed by the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron in October. However, in mid-December, the trailer once again became the most viewed trailer of 2014 accumulating over 93 million views in its first four months of release. The trailer accumulated over 100 million views in its first week of release through different channels and websites, becoming the biggest trailer ever released in history. A second trailer was released on November 13, 2014. A third 40-second trailer aired during Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015.

Reception

Box office
According to ticket-selling site, Fandango, Fifty Shades of Grey became the fastest selling R-rated title of all time in its 15-year history, surpassing the record previously held by Sex and the City 2. Fandango also reported that it outsold other R-rated hits such as the second and third Hangover films and Gone Girl.[90] It also had the biggest first week of ticket sales on Fandango for a non-sequel film surpassing 2012's The Hunger Games record.[90][91] The massive demand for the film prompted theatre owners across the U.S. to add new showtimes.[90][92] Weeks before the film's release, several box office analysts suggested as much as a $60 million domestic four day opening.