Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson from a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Produced by Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions, it is based on E. L. James' 2011 eponymous novel, and serves as the first installment in the Fifty Shades film series. Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden, the film's story follows Anastasia "Ana" Steele, a college graduate, who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey.
Development of the film commenced in March 2012, when Universal and Focus Features secured the rights to the trilogy following a bidding war. After Marcel was hired to write the film's screenplay, multiple directors, including Joe Wright, Patty Jenkins, Bill Condon, Bennett Miller, and Steven Soderbergh, were attached to the film. Taylor-Johnson was confirmed as the director in June 2013. She cited 9½ Weeks (1986), Last Tango in Paris (1972), and Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013) as her inspirations for the film. The main cast joined the project between October and December 2013. Principal photography commenced in December 2013 and concluded in February 2014. Reshoots involving scenes between Dornan and Johnson took place in Vancouver during the week of October 2014. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film's score.
Fifty Shades of Grey premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015, and was released in IMAX formats on February 13, by Universal Pictures. Despite receiving generally unfavorable reviews from critics, it was an immediate box office success, breaking numerous box office records and earning $569.7 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million. The soundtrack album was also successful; "Love Me like You Do", by English singer Ellie Goulding, was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, while "Earned It", by Canadian singer the Weeknd, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards. Fifty Shades of Grey was succeeded by two sequels: Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, released in 2017 and 2018, respectively, both of which received similar negative critical reception and commercial success.
Plot Twenty-one year old Anastasia "Ana" Steele is an English literature major at Washington State University Vancouver. Her roommate, Kate Kavanagh, catches a cold and is unable to interview Christian Grey, a twenty-seven year old billionaire entrepreneur, for the college newspaper. Ana agrees to take Kate's place.
At Christian's Seattle headquarters, Ana stumbles her way through the meeting. Christian, who is that year's WSU commencement speaker, takes an interest in her, which is mutual. Soon after, he visits the hardware store where Ana works and offers to do a photo shoot to accompany the article for which she had interviewed him.
Christian asks Ana out for coffee, but leaves abruptly after she confesses to being a romantic, saying he is not the man for her. He later sends her first edition copies of two Thomas Hardy novels, including Tess of the d'Urbervilles, as a gift, with a quote from the latter book about the dangers of relationships on an accompanying card.
Ana and her friends celebrate graduation at a local bar. After drinking too much, she calls Christian, saying she is returning the books, and berating him for his behavior towards her. He goes to the bar to find Ana, arriving just as her photographer friend, José Rodriguez, attempts to kiss her against her will. She is suddenly sick, throws up and passes out. The next morning, Ana wakes up in Christian's hotel room, relieved that nothing sexual happened between them.
After the two kiss passionately in an elevator, and Christian takes her for a ride in his helicopter, a romance starts to develop. He insists, however, that Ana sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from revealing details about their relationship. Christian explains that he is a dominant who engages in sexual bondage relationships, but only as defined in a contract between the participants.
Ana reveals that she is a virgin. She considers the agreement and negotiates her own terms. Then, after briefly visiting his "Red Room" which is stocked with a bed and a variety of whips and shackles, Ana and Christian spend the night together.
The next morning, after making pancakes and meeting Christian's adoptive mother, the two go for a drive. As the way, Christian explains he was introduced to his dominant practices at age 15 by a woman Ana dubs "Mrs. Robinson". His parents know nothing about this, even though "Mrs. Robinson" was and still is a friend of the family.
Christian bestows a series of gifts and favors upon Ana, including a new car and a laptop. After she and Kate move to Seattle, he insists that she go over his contract before moving forward. After looking into it in some detail, Ana initially says no, but is persuaded otherwise and finds herself willingly giving her consent.
During dinner at Christian's parents' home, Ana suddenly mentions she is leaving the next day to visit her mother in Georgia. This makes him angry, especially when she says she wants more than the one-sided relationship he is proposing. Ana then goes to Georgia, visits a cocktail lounge, and is shocked when Christian shows up. He introduces himself, takes Ana air gliding, then returns to Seattle to tend to a business emergency.
After returning home, Ana and Christian have a night in his "Red Room". She consents to what he wants, but he remains emotionally distant, upsetting her. While still considering the contract, and in an effort to understand Christian's psychology, Ana asks him to demonstrate the worst punishment he would inflict on her for rule-breaking. Christian whips her with his belt, making her count each stroke out loud.
Crushed, Ana declares her love for him, but says his behavior is unacceptable. Christian replies that he is too psychologically broken to have the relationship that she wants. Devastated and depressed, Ana leaves him, and he promises to send her a check for the old car he sold without her consent. When he follows her out to the elevator, Ana orders him to stop. Christian tries to plead with her, saying her name, and she cuts him off by saying his own name, turning his plea into a farewell as the elevator doors close.
Cast
Dakota Johnson as Anastasia "Ana" Steele, a 21-year-old English Literature student attending Washington State University Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, a 27-year-old billionaire, entrepreneur, and CEO of Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc. Charlie Hunnam was originally cast in the role, but left the film due to his schedule conflicts. Eloise Mumford as Katherine "Kate" Kavanagh, Anastasia's best friend/roommate who begins a relationship with Christian's older brother, Elliot Grey Jennifer Ehle as Carla Wilks, Anastasia's mother Marcia Gay Harden as Dr. Grace Trevelyan-Grey, Christian Grey's adoptive mother Victor Rasuk as José Rodriguez, one of Anastasia's close friends Luke Grimes as Elliot Grey, Christian's adopted older brother Rita Ora as Mia Grey, Christian's adopted younger sister Max Martini as Jason Taylor, Christian's bodyguard and head of his security Callum Keith Rennie as Ray Steele, Anastasia's father Andrew Airlie as Carrick Grey, Christian's adoptive father Dylan Neal as Bob Adams, Anastasia's stepfather as Paul Clayton, the brother of the owner of Clayton's Hardware Store as Martina Rachel Skarsten as Andrea, Christian's assistant
Production Development By early 2012, several Hollywood studios were keen to obtain film rights to The New York Times bestselling Fifty Shades trilogy of novels. Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, Universal, and Mark Wahlberg's production company submitted bids for the film rights. Universal Pictures and Focus Features secured the rights to the trilogy in March 2012. Author James sought to retain some control during the movie's creative process. James chose The Social Network producers Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti to produce the film.
Although American Psycho writer Bret Easton Ellis publicly expressed his desire to write the screenplay for Fifty Shades of Grey, 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 served as the costume designer. Entertainment Weekly estimated the film's budget as "$40 million-or-so".
Direction
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. Johnson was paid over US$2 million for directing the film.
9½ Weeks, Last Tango in Paris, and Blue Is the Warmest Colour were all cited by Taylor-Johnson as inspirations for the film.
In an interview in June 2017, Taylor-Johnson cited difficulties working with author E. L. James, causing her to leave the series. She said: "I can never say I regret it because that would just finish me off. With the benefit of hindsight would I go through it again? Of course I wouldn't. I'd be mad."
Casting Bret Easton Ellis stated that Robert Pattinson had been James' first choice for the role of Christian Grey, but James felt that casting Pattinson and his Twilight co-star Kristen Stewart in the film would be "weird". Ian Somerhalder and Chace Crawford both expressed interest in the role of Christian. Somerhalder later admitted if he had been considered, the filming process would ultimately have conflicted with his shooting schedule for The CW's series The Vampire Diaries. On September 2, 2013, James revealed that Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson had been cast as Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, respectively. 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. Emilia Clarke was also offered the role of Anastasia but turned down the part because of the nudity required. Taylor-Johnson would give every actress who auditioned for the role of Anastasia four pages to read of a monologue from Ingmar Bergman's Persona.