A few weeks ago, Charlie Hunnam was announced to play the lead role in the much anticipated adaptation of 50 Shades Of Grey. However now he’s dropped out of the role of Christian Grey, who becomes involved in an S&M flavoured relationship with a young woman, Anastasia Steele.
The official statement from Universal Pictures says, “The filmmakers of Fifty Shades of Grey and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.”
However, other sources have suggested to THR that it wasn’t just his schedule, but that Hunnam has been overwhelmed by the attention and pressure heaped on him since the announcement, and that with a schedule that would essentially leave no time to transition from his TV show, Sons Of Anarchy, to the movie, he decided it was too much.
There are also some wondering about whether Hunnam got cold feet about a role that’s highly sexual and could have ended up defining his career.
Fifty Shades of Grey is set for release on August 1st, 2014, so there’s little time to find a replacement and shooting needs to start soon. Sam Taylor-Johnson is set to direct.