This 50 Shades of Grey movie is starting to feel like Justice League for horny moms, in terms of the likelihood and difficulty of it ever actually getting made. Charlie Hunnam left the project over the weekend, disappointing everyone who hoped the titular slave master Christian Grey would have a confusing accent and mediocre acting skills. Now there’s rumor that lead actress Dakota Johnson is “struggling with the attention” and considering dropping out as well (though this is just rumors, according to the studio).
A couple other new wrinkles, courtesy of a story in THR: Hunnam was only going to make $125K on the project. Barely enough to afford a f*ck dungeon in LA, trust me. Also, Hunnam apparently gave detailed script notes, which I’m sure everyone took very seriously.
In addition, Hunnam, who also is a writer (he penned the gothic horror screenplay Vlad for Brad Pitt’s Plan B and Summit Entertainment), is said to have submitted his own very detailed script notes on Kelly Marcel’s adaptation of the runaway best-seller. The notes were well received, according to sources, but that only led to Hunnam seeking further script approval, which was denied.
The eye candy making low six figures wasn’t given writing input into a movie that already has the original author’s hands in the creative pot? Shocking. “Aw, c’mon, you guys! Come read my goth horror!”
According to another source, Hunnam, who was to be paid about $125,000 for the film, began butting heads with the creative team, including [director Sam] Taylor-Johnson. The conflict reached a fever pitch in early October, though everyone involved thought the issues had been resolved. But the discord spiked again Oct. 11. That same day, Universal hired writer Patrick Marber — no stranger to taboo sex themes with his Oscar-nominated screenplay Notes on a Scandal — to do a polish and bolster the characters. But by then, Hunnam, whose heart it seems never was in the project, had decided to decamp.
Meanwhile, everyone’s speculating on who will fill Hunnam’s gaping role (I won’t bore you with the ridiculous guessing on that end). Complicating things is that EL James, aka Snowqueens Icedragon, the original author of this Twilight fan-fiction fiasco, maintains approval over casting. Yeesh, this thing is getting more complex than the female orgasm, and likewise, may never happen. If this was a movie for dudes, you could just promise to show the dongs going in and call it a day.
They should’ve listened to Burnsy all along, it’s never too late to hire an octopus.
[banner image via Getty]