Despite reports last week from THR and Variety that Joe Wright was the front-runner to direct the upcoming "Fifty Shades of Grey" adaptation for Universal and Focus Features, Deadline.com's Mike Fleming has shot down the idea with the site's signature "Toldja!" Per Fleming, Wright's schedule "doesn't work" with the "Fifty Shades" time frame; Universal chairman Adam Fogelson told THR back in February that the adaptation of E L James' best-selling S&M novel could arrive in theaters as early as next summer.
"I will tell you that it is an absolute priority for us," Fogelson said.
Fleming initially threw cold water on the trade reports hours after they published on Friday, writing that the news was "bullsh-t." His Monday update on the story noted that film journalists are "spinning rumors based on little more than preliminary conversations." Indeed, they are: Last June, Fleming posted a story about Angelina Jolie's potential involvement as director of the film on Deadline.com with the headline "'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Heating Up With Angelina Jolie Talk."
"I've heard rumors about the possibility of Angelilna Jolie having a conversation or two about directing it," Fleming wrote at the time, before adding that no official negotiations had taken place. THR, for its part, noted that the conversations Jolie had with the studio about "Fifty Shades of Grey" were not necessarily "real."
For more on Wright and the rumor that he could have directed "50 Shades Of Grey," head over to Deadline.com.
[via Deadline.com]
