Fifty Shades of Grey Was Almost Directed by This Award-Winning Filmmaker

Before Sam Taylor-Johnson was signed on to direct Fifty Shades of Grey, an award-winning filmmaker campaigned for the job of adapting the 2015 erotic drama based on the book by E. L. James.

What filmmaker almost directed Fifty Shades of Grey?

In 2015, Gus Van Sant campaigned to direct Fifty Shades of Grey. While speaking to Variety, Van Sant revealed that he shot a provocative sequence with actor Alex Pettyfer portraying Christian Grey, the billionaire businessman with a propensity for BDSM. Van Sant viewed it as a proof of concept for James to see how he would handle the material. Ultimately, James passed on Van Sant.

“It did not fit into her idea of what she wanted to do,” Van Sant said. “It’s a complete sex novel, but the author had this intention of not having a lot of sex in it. She wanted a movie that was a lot more chaste than the novel.”

Variety notes that a spokesperson for James “disputes that she wanted the movie to have less sex than the books.”

Taylor-Johnson went on to direct Fifty Shades of Grey, while Jamie Dornan won the role of Christian over Pettyfer. Dakota Johnson starred as Anastasia “Ana” Steele, the college student who embarks on a BDSM-driven relationship with Christian.

Released in 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey became an international phenomenon, grossing just under $570 million worldwide. The movie spawned two sequels: 2017’s Fifty Shades Darker and 2018’s Fifty Shades Freed.

Meanwhile, Van Sant is best known for directing Oscar-winning films Good Will Hunting and Milk. Van Sant received best directing nominations for his work on both movies.

Next month, Van Sant returns with his first directed feature since 2018 with Dead Man’s Wire. The crime thriller dramatizes the 1977 kidnapping of Richard Hall by Tony Kiritsis. Dacre Montgomery plays Hall, while Bill Skarsgård portrays Kiritsis.

Dead Man’s Wire will premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2025.

Source: Comingsoon.net