50 Shades of Grey Movie: Kelly Marcel Confirmed as Screenwriter, Cast TBD

Culture

Now that The Perks of Being a Wallflower actress Emma Watson said she's OK with shooting nude scenes, if she is cast as Anastasia Steel in the upcoming film adaptation of E.L. James' erotic book Fifty Shades of Grey, the much anticipated project is finally nearing its production stage. 

And with the news that writer Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. BanksTerranova) has been tapped as the screenwriter, the BDSM story of business tycoon and philanthropist Christian Grey and student Anastasia Steel will soon be not only in your local Barnes & Noble but also in your favorite multiplex. 

Fifty Shades, the movie, will be produced by Universal Pictures and Focus Features. Besides Marcel, known for her 2011 script about Disney's behind the scenes plot to obtain the film rights to P.L. Travers' book Mary Poppins, the 50 Shades crew so far includes The Social Network's producers Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca.           

De Luca said, "Kelly’s work demonstrates her flawless structural technique and passionate commitment to emotion, humor and depth of character which is particularly visible in the celebrated screenplay for the upcoming Saving Mr. Banks.” 

Meanwhile, Brunetti assured, "we were all taken with the depth and passion of Kelly’s engagement with the characters and world EL James has created, and we knew she was the right person to augment our Fifty Shades family.” 

Earlier in the summer, American Psycho author Bret Easton-Ellis had been bidding himself through Twitter as a potential screenwriter for the project, citing similarities between Fifty Shades of Grey's main character — Christian Grey — and American Psycho's Manhattan sleek businessman and secret serial killer Patrick Bateman (played in the 2000 film adaptation by Christian Bale).

However, if he ever was considered as a serious option, Easton-Ellis fell from grace because of what E.L. James considered an excessive attempt at gaining free publicity out of her project — as well as the trashing of White Collar's Matt Bomer, and actor widely favored to be cast as he main character Christian Grey.