The producers behind The Social Network are teaming up again for a story a lot steamier than the founding of Facebook. Michael de Luca and Dana Brunetti are producing the movie adaptation of the best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy of erotic novels. EL James' trilogy about an affair between a college student and a kinky billionaire has sold more than 31 million copies worldwide. Universal Studios and Focus Features snapped up the movie rights for $5 million after a heated bidding war earlier this year, notes the Hollywood Reporter.
"At its core, Fifty Shades of Grey is a complex love story, requiring a delicate and sophisticated hand to bring it to the big screen," a Universal exec said in a statement. "Mike and Dana’s credits more than exemplify what we need in creative partners, and we’re glad to have them as part of our team." The duo are currently working on Captain Phillips, the true story of an American cargo ship captain taken hostage by Somali pirates. (More 50 Shades of Grey stories.)