British screenwriter Kelly Marcel has been tapped to write the screenplay for Fifty Shades of Grey after Focus Features confirmed the news on Monday.
Focus Features announced that writer Kelly Marcel (co-creator of Terra Nova) will adapt Fifty Shades of Grey from the E.L. James book of the same name. It was revealed that Focus reviewed Marcel’s spec screenplay Saving Mr. Banks, which was bought by Universal and will star Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, and Colin Farrel.
Fifty Shades of Grey producer Dana Brunetti explained that Marcel had been chosen due to her flair for writing rich characters. “We were all taken with the depth and passion of Kelly’s engagement with the characters,” Said Brunetti, “and world E. L. James has created, and we knew she was the right person to augment our ‘Fifty Shades’ family.”
Although Kelly Marcel landed the Fifty Shades of Greay job, writer Bret Easton Ellis, who penned American Psycho and wanted to adapt Fifty Shades, tweeted his displeasure at bot getting the gig. “Kelly Marcel?!? KELLY MARCEL,” tweeted Ellis. “Kelly Marcel is WRITING the script for Fifty Shades of Grey?!? THIS is the movie they want to make? ARGH.”