Christian Grey fan favorite Ian Somerhalder sparked a new stream of rumors of his connection to the film adaption of E.L. James' bestselling '50 Shades of Grey' on Monday after announcing he would be giving away his copy of the book with a personal message.
The announcement, made on Twitter, asked fans to "donate or raise $50 or more before 1/9" on Somerhalder's team page for the Mozilla Firefox Challenge. "Win my personal copy of 50 Shades with a personal note :)" Somerhalder tweeted on Monday, "Help ISF win the MFC." The 'Vampire Diaries' actor's organization, the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, is hoping to win a $50,000 donation from Mozilla.
Somerhalder's tweet garnered 2,589 retweets and nearly 2,000 favorites in just over a day. While donations in his foundation poured in, the actor's giveaway prompted rumors that the personal message included will reveal that he has been chosen to play the coveted role of Christian Grey, Gather Celeb reported.
The 34-year-old actor has been a consistent fan favorite since Universal Pictures and Focus Films purchased the rights to the book in early 2012. Along with 'White Collar' actor Matt Bomer, Somerhalder has dominated fan polls conducted by Latinos Post. In the most recent fan poll between Somerhalder, Bomer and 'Arrow' actor Stephen Amell, the vampire-playing actor came in close second with 46.79 percent of the votes, or 3,509 of the 7,500 votes casted.
Despite the ongoing rumors, author E.L. James and screenwriter Kelly Marcel have told reporters that casting decisions will have to wait until the production team decides on a director and the film's script has been written. Producers Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti join Marcel in the films production team.
The first film of the series, '50 Shades of Grey,' does not have a scheduled release date as of January 2013.