Charlie Hunnam And Dakota Johnson - The Only Choices For "50 Shades"?

By now it’s a well-known fact that the actors, selected for the lead parts in 50 Shades of Gray – Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam – don’t really appeal to fans’ tastes. In fact, some avid readers of the book went so far, as to express their distaste with an online petition. It’s written mostly in caps, so you know they mean business.

As for the female lead, while the rumors about Emma Watson and Mila Kunis had very little credibility to begin with, the studio did reach out to Shailene Woodley, who was an early favorite of EL James, however the young actress declined due to conflicting press obligations for her upcoming YA adaptation Divergent. Overall, it seems the search has been tough, which begs the question – if Hunnam and Johnson weren’t the first choices, were they perhaps the only ones willing to do it? In any case, it doesn’t look like there are any more casting announcements coming, so disgruntled fans will have to get used to the new images of their favorite characters.

Now the pressure is on to film and edit the movie on a shortened time frame. According to THR, Universal and Focus want to begin shooting in late October in Vancouver or Los Angeles, with a release date of Aug. 1, 2014.