Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam
Compared to the other faces on the list, Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam are two names that don’t really stand out. Now 23 years old, actress Dakota Johnson is the daughter of two famous actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. The couple is divorced and Melanie Griffith is currently living with her third husband, actor Antonio Banderas. Dakota has been acting since she was 10 years old, but until now she has only appeared in unremarkable supporting roles. Only once did Dakota play the main role in the TV series Ben and Kate, but unfortunately the series only aired for a year.
The role of Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades of Gray is Dakota’s first female lead role on the big screen. Explaining this unexpected choice, the media said that Hollywood film producers wanted to choose a young, little-known actress whose acting is neither too immature nor too mature to portray the female role. Anastasia Steele herself. Steele is an honest, pure and innocent new graduate who is easily drawn into a sensual love adventure with mysterious young billionaire Christian Gray.
As for “Christian Grey”, like Dakota Johnson, this 33-year-old actor Charlie Hunnam often only appears in minor supporting roles. The achievements he has achieved in his career so far are the National Board of Review award for the film Nicholas Nickleby and 4 award nominations for his role as Jackson “Jax” Teller in the television series Sons of Anarchy. In the middle of this year, the name Charlie Hunnam just started to attract a lot of attention through the blockbuster Pacific Rim. This fantasy film grossed more than $404 million against a budget of $190 million. The media commented that the “turning point” of Christian Gray is an opportunity for the British actor to join the ranks of A-list stars in the world’s cinema capital.
The novel Fifty Shades of Gray
Despite winning the race to buy the rights to the novel, it seems that Universal is quite cautious with its upcoming brainchild. Inviting two not-so-famous actors to play the main roles shows that Universal considers all risks and will not dare to “spend too much” on Fifty Shades of Gray. Although we can expect support from the novel’s large fan base, it is certain that with the content mostly being bedroom scenes, when Fifty Shades of Gray hits theaters, it will face big challenges.
For example, it is rated R, which means the film is not intended for people under 16 years old without a parent or guardian accompanying them. This will cause Fifty Shades of Gray to lose a significant audience. In addition, if it fails to attract young audiences, the film will be considered a complete failure in terms of revenue. Because this audience contributes greatly to box office success, typical examples can be seen through Twilight and The Hunger Games. But it’s all just speculation, let’s wait for the release of Fifty Shades of Gray next August.
Since its release in 2011, Fifty Shades of Gray has caused much controversy around the world for its explicit depiction of sexuality but became a literary phenomenon when it was honored at the British National Book Awards. , in the Most Popular Fiction of the Year category. Currently, the novel series has sold more than 70 million copies around the world, resulting in an increasingly large fan base. This success turned E. L. James into one of the highest-earning writers in the world with $95 million in just one year.
