Joe Wright in the Running to Direct/Class Up 'Fifty Shades of Grey' — REPORT

Focus Features

The smoldering S&M passion of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey may soon be enfolded in luxurious tracking shots, impeccable fabrics, and delicate, sun-dappled lighting. Yep, Joe Wright, the director of Anna Karenina and Atonement, is in talks with Focus Features and Universal to adapt E.L. James' bestselling bodice-ripper Fifty  Shades of Grey, The Hollywood Reporter says.
It'd be a surprising move for Wright, who's previously chosen more lofty projects. But like David Fincher's take on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a Joe Wright-directed Fifty Shades of Grey could prove to be a fascinating transformation of a trashy subway-read into something more.  That's the direction Universal's reportedly been taking in their search for a director, having already started discussions with other such pedigreed helmers as Bennett Miller, Patty Jenkins, and Gus Van Sant, who recently shot test footage with Alex Pettyfer in the role of the 27-year-old billionaire title character, Christian Grey. More than any of these others, Wright has demonstrated an affinity for smoldering passion in his work. I mean, this is a guy who actually made Aaron Taylor-Johnson swoon-worthy. And Wright's Ophuls-style tracking shots would certainly make Steele's repeated proclamations of "Holy crap!" more palatable.