‘Fifty Shades of Grey’: Universal and Focus Move Production Start Date to December

After it took two tries to find a leading man, Universal and Focus are postponing the production start date for “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Sources tell Variety that production is expected to be pushed from mid-November to early December.

Universal and Focus had no comment.

When Charlie Hunnam fell off the project, studio insiders said there was a chance of a delay in production even if they worked fast to find his replacement. However, insiders said that even if a production delay occurred, it was not expected to have any effect on the Aug. 1, 2014 release date.

Last week, Variety first reported that Jamie Dornan was the choice to replace Hunnam and play Christian Grey opposite Dakota Johnson in the adaptation of the E.L. James book. There are still some key parts yet to be cast including Anastasia Steele’s roommate Kate, who would still need to test with Johnson.

Sam-Taylor Johnson is directing with Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti producing.

Production Weekly reported the postponement Friday.

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