The erotica series that's been capturing the attention of women on the Upper East Side (and everywhere) will be made into a movie, naturally. According to Deadline, Universal Pictures and Focus Features have acquired screen rights to the E.L. James novel Fifty Shades Of Grey, the first in a trilogy of books by the author. We've actually read this book (for journalism) and can tell you it's basically The Fountainhead (the characters are sort of very thin impersonations of a Howard Roark and Dominique Francon) meets the Lifetime network (there's a miniseries type vibe to the storytelling)... meets BDSM (hardcore sex scenes, repeated every few pages or so). Deadline discusses the big deal, noting:
I’d heard that 10 studio chiefs sweat it out all weekend to get the rights to this book about a 21-year-old college student who starts a relationship with a late-20s wealthy and handsome entrepreneur who leads her partner into an S&M and bondage deal where she is his submissive and keeps his emotions repressed. The relationship between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey deepens in Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. I’m not hearing a specific winning bid amount, but I think if you go back to The Da Vinci Code, which sold for around $3 million or a bit higher against 3.5% of gross, this is comparable to what Universal has paid for Fifty Shades of Grey.
So now the big questions: Who will play the 21-year-old Anastasia Steele and her slightly older dom, Christian Grey? And will the women of the UES go full costume for midnight screenings, dragging their husbands to the theater with ball gags in their mouths?
