CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Smash Pictures has announced plans to jump aboard the Fifty Shades of Grey bandwagon and will hold auditions next Wednesday, May 16, for the smash literary series' (pun intended) principal characters, Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey.
In an interesting twist, however, Smash is leaping directly to the series' second installment, Fifty Shades Darker, for its take on the franchise, so as not to to produce a competing release with Adult Source Media's already-announced project for its Intimate Encounters line based on the first novel.
"Instead of jumping on the same script, we're diving headfirst into shooting volume two," Smash president Stuart Wall said. "This will be our biggest feature film to date. We'll be shooting at the end of June, and we've already received phone calls from Businessweek and other mainstream news media pertaining to our XXX romance adaptation of this book."
For the part of Steele, Smash is seeking a "20-year-old college girl, fresh newbie to the business, submissive to play the young virgin part." For Grey, the studio wants a male "25-35 age range, with acting abilities."
The audition takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Smash Pictures office, with Wall and director Jim Powers judging the hopefuls, who will be asked to read passages from the book. For more information, talent and agents may email [email protected].
