(Photo courtesy of Vintage Books)Fans of “Fifty Shades of Grey” rejoice, while haters quiver at the fact that the book series is officially getting a movie adaption. Due to the success of “Twilight,” “The Hunger Games” and even the Harry Potter series, it wasn’t if “Fifty Shades of Grey” was going to get a film adaptation, it was when — and that “when” is now.
For those who don’t know what “Fifty Shades of Grey” is and have been living under a rock on Mars, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a vastly successful best-selling book series that borders the lines of romantic novel and erotica.
How successful was the book series? “Fifty Shades of Grey” set the record for the fastest selling paperback of all time, beating Harry Potter. The series has sold 40 million copies worldwide in 37 different countries making it unsurprising that the novel is being turned into a movie.
Everyone knows that “Twilight,” for better or for worse, is a very profitable film series. This begs the question: Is “Fifty Shades of Grey” just being made to ride the sweet cash-making train of the “Twilight” series?
“Fifty Shades of Grey,” actually started out as “Twilight” fan fiction. Originally titled “Master of the Universe,” written under the pen name “Snowqueen's Icedragon,” the novel revolved around the characters from “Twilight.” After removing the fan fiction due to its sexual material, the author rewrote it, changed the names Edward and Bella into Grey and Anastasia, and then published it. With this knowledge, it’s apparent that the studios have faith in the novel’s success. The studio is basically taking “Twilight,” changing the names and waiting for the cash to pour in.
However, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is successful for its own reason. There is an audience that loves this book, so Universal Pictures and Focus Features have green lighted the film adaptation. Kelly Marcel, the writer and executive producer of the short-lived TV series “Terra Nova,” has been chosen to write the screenplay. For those who haven’t heard of “Terra Nova” — the same people who have been living under a rock on Mars — it was similar to the show “Lost,” but with dinosaurs. Marcel also wrote the movie “Saving Mr. Banks” starring Tom Hanks.
Who will be starring in the film adaption of “Fifty Shades of Grey” has been a hot topic of discussion on TV and in various gossip magazines. It has been rumored that the Harry Potter alumna, Emma Watson, will be playing Anastasia. Marcel was also co-artistic director of the improvisational theater company, “The Bad Dog Theater Company,” where she worked with Tom Hardy in 2010. Due to this, rumors also speculated that Tom Hardy might play Christian Grey in the film — but these are just rumors.
When Marcel was chosen as the screenwriter, she tweeted: "Beyond thrilled to be jumping aboard the 50 Shades train. Very exciting!" Fans of the romantic novel should be very excited as well. And for the haters of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the movie might actually turn out to be very good.
Reach the reporter at tverti@asu.edu
