It looks like "Fifty Shades of Grey" fans will have to wait even longer for the highly-anticipated movie premiere. Instead of debuting on Aug. 1, 2014 as originally planned, Universal Studios has decided to push the erotic film back to Valentine's Day weekend in 2015.
In an exclusive cover story, Entertainment Weekly revealed that the movie release of the best-selling sexy trilogy was delayed for multiple reasons, including the Christian Grey casting change. The start of production in Vancouver was pushed back a month to allow for the production time to prep with its new leading man, actor Jamie Dornan, who plays kinky billionaire Christian Grey.
However, Universal says the casting change is not the primary reason for the new release date. The studio was also worried about competition with an Aug. 1 release date from the upcoming Marvel action film, "Guardians of the Galaxy," along with the World Cup in Brazil.
"We see this movie as a global event," Universal pictures chairman Donna Langley told EW. "The strength of this book is really worldwide, so we want to be able to take advantage of women who are invariably on vacation with their families during the month of August in Europe."
In addition, Valentine's Day weekend coincides with the President's Day holiday, giving Universal the opportunity to attract more viewers, notes IBT.
"Together with the international marketing and distribution team, we've been looking really closely at the August date and becoming more and more convinced that the right thing to do for the movie was to push it," Langley said.
Other stars cast in the movie include Dakota Johnson, playing Anastasia Steele, Victor Rasuk, who will play Ana's trusted photographer friend Jose and Luke Grimes, who will play Christian's brother Elliot, reports KPopStarz.
There's also speculation that Katie Holmes will shed her good girl image to take on the role of a hot and sexy billionaire named Elena in the upcoming movie production. According to inside sources, the 34-year-old actress plans on going platinum blonde for the role of "Elena Lincoln," who acts as Christian Grey's longtime lover and business partner, reports the National Enquirer.
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