Fans hoping that director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s adaptation of the runaway bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey should be pleased, albeit not necessarily surprised, with today’s update: The E L James adaptation has officially been rated R by the MPAA for, in their own words, “strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language.”
Opening in theaters on February 13, 2015, Fifty Shades of Grey stars Jamie Dornan (Marie Antoinette, Shadows in the Sun), Dakota Johnson (Need for Speed, “Ben and Kate”), Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty), Luke Grimes (Taken 2), Victor Rasuk (Godzilla, “Stalker”), Eloise Mumford (In the Blood), Max Martini (Pacific Rim), Rita Ora (Southpaw), Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River, Into the Wild) and Callum Keith Rennie (Memento).
A global phenomenon, Fifty Shades of Grey was first published in 2011 and follows the relationship of 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey (Dornan) and college student Anastasia Steele (Johnson). Subsequent novels in the series, “Fifty Shades Darker” (2011) and “Fifty Shades Freed” (2012) explore the couple?s deepening relationship. The trilogy has been translated in over 50 languages worldwide since its release. To date, the ?Fifty Shades? trilogy has sold over 70 million copies worldwide in e-book and print, making it one of the fastest-selling book series ever.